Pigweed
Amaranthus retroflexus
This adaptable plant is also called
careless weed because of its happy-go-lucky attitude about where
it grows. Pigweed pollen is spread by wind, and it causes many cases
of late summer hay fever. Pigweed flowers are small and green and
hard to see individually. You can tell when the plant is in bloom,
though, because of the thick clusters of flowers at the top of the
plant and at the ends of branches. The male flowers go on blooming
and shedding pollen for many months. You're likely to find pigweed
in your yard or along fields, roads, and fences. The reason pigweed
is adaptable to different places is that each plant makes an amazing
number of seeds, hundreds of thousands, all of them a little different.
Some of these seeds have the ability to grow where their mother
plant can't grow. Pigweed is a treat for hogs, and that's how it
got its name. The tough-looking leaves are actually tender and tasty.
Pigs have been known to turn up their snouts at corn when they spot
pigweed nearby.
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