Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

• Dandelion plants live more than two years (perennial).
• It grows in lawns, landscapes, roadsides, and sidewalk cracks.
• When mowed, its yellow flowers and texture stand out in lawns (left photo).
• Dandelion dominates an area when left unmanaged.
• It provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Dandelion

• Dandelion forms a single yellow flower per stem.
• It has smooth, jagged leaves (top right photo).
• It forms seed head with floating seeds (bottom right photo).

See How to Get Rid of Dandelion for details.

Catsear / False Dandelion (Hypochaeris radicata)

• Catsear lives more than two years (perennial).
• It grows in lawns, landscapes, roadsides, and sidewalk cracks.
• When mowed, its yellow flowers and texture stand out in lawns.
• Catsear dominates an area when left unmanaged.
• It provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Catsear / False Dandelion

• It grows many long, slender, branching stems with yellow flowers 24–32 inches from the ground (left photo).
• Catsear leaves are less jagged and more textured than the dandelion’s leaves (upper right photo).
• It forms seed head with floating seeds (lower right photo).

Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

• Common groundsel completes its life cycle in less than a year (annual).
• It has upright stems up to 2 feet tall.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged.
• When mowed, common groundsel doesn’t blend in well with grasses in lawns.
• It provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Goundsel

• Groundsel has jagged leaves with hairs (left photo).
• Its yellow, daisy-like flowers grow nearly year-round.
• Groundsel forms seed head with floating seeds (right photo).

English Daisy / Lawn Daisy (Bellis perennis)

• Daisy lives more than two years (perennial).
• It is often included in ecolawn seed mixes.
• When mowed, daisy mixes with lawn grasses.
• It provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.
• You may leave this plant alone in lawns.

How to Identify English Daisy / Lawn Daisy

• It grows low to the ground with spoon-shaped leaves.
• It forms white-to-pink, daisy-like flowers that grow nearly year round (left photo).
• Flowers vary in color from white to pink (right photo).

White Clover (Trifolium repens)

• Clover plants live more than two years (perennial).  
• It spreads aggressively by seeds and creeping stems. Clover forms dense patches.
• When mowed, it mixes with lawn grasses.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged.
• Nitrogen-fixing plants grow in low-nutrient soil conditions.
• Clover provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.
• Determine whether you can live with white clover in your lawn. It has many benefits.

How to Identify White Clover

• It grows as a dense, spreading clump.
• The leaves have 3 crescent-shaped leaflets with a white watermark (upper right photo).
• Clover’s white flowers attract bees (lower right photo).

Tip for Controlling White Clover

• If you can’t tolerate white clover in your lawn, the best way to control it is by adding nitrogen fertilizer to your lawn. Fertilizer feeds the grasses and helps them to grow strong.
• Nitrogen fertilizer also inhibits the growth of clover and related species. As a nitrogen-fixing plant, white clover prefers low soil nitrogen conditions.

Black Medic (Medicago lupulina)

• The plants live more than two years (perennial).  
• Black medic spreads aggressively by seeds and creeping stems. It forms dense patches with sprawling stems.
• When mowed, it mixes with lawn grasses.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged.  
• Nitrogen-fixing plants grow in low-nutrient soil conditions.
• Black medic provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Black Medic

• The leaves have 3 crescent-shaped leaflets with slightly toothed edges.
• It forms numerous, small yellow flowers.

Birds-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

• Spreads aggressively by seeds and creeping stems. Forms dense patches with sprawling stems.
• When mowed, it mixes with lawn grasses.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged.  
• Nitrogen-fixing plants grow in low-nutrient soil conditions.
• Provides food resources for pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Birds-foot Trefoil

• Forms bright yellow flowers in spring. Flowers are larger and less numerous than black medic’s flowers.
• Leaves have 3 dark green and elongated leaflets with smooth edges (right photo).

Dovefoot geranium (Geranium molle)

• The plant completes its life cycle in less than a year (annual).
• Dovefoot geranium mixes into lawns when mowed.

How to Identify Dovefoot Geranium

• The petals of dovefoot geranium flowers are deeply notched. It looks as if the flowers have ten petals instead of five.
• The leaves are fuzzy and shaped like a palm with cuts along the leaf margin.
• Dovefoot geranium stems are light-red color.

Redstem Filaree / Stork’s Bill (Erodium cicutarium)

• This plant completes its life cycle in less than a year (annual) or two years (biennial).
• Filaree mixes into lawns when mowed.

How to Identify Filaree

• Filaree has pink flowers with five petals.
• Its leaves are frilly as shown in the photo.

Cutleaf Geranium (Geranium dissectum)

• This plant completes its life cycle in less than a year (annual) or two years (biennial).
• Cutleaf geranium mixes with grasses when mowed.

How to Identify Cutleaf Geranium

• The leaves are deeply lobed. Cutleaf geranium has small pink flowers with 5 petals.
• The stems are hairy and rough. They grow up to 2 feet long if left unmowed.

Shiny Geranium (Geranium lucidum)

• Shiny geranium completes its life cycle in less than a year (annual).
• The plant grows 6-18 inches tall. It often forms dense mounds that smother other vegetation. It grows in landscapes and along roads, trails, and forest edges.
• Shiny geranium doesn’t mix into lawns when mowed.

How to Identify Shiny Geranium

• Shiny geranium leaves are lobed and have distinct cuts in the leaf margin (left photo). It has small, pink flowers with five petals.
• The stems are red without hairs (right photo). Other geraniums have hairy stems.

Invasive Species Alert

Shiny geranium is an invasive plant species. Take action to control it.

See How to Get Rid of Shiny Geranium for details.

Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

• The plants live more than two years (perennial).
• Creeping buttercup spreads aggressively by seeds and creeping stems. It forms dense patches with sprawling stems.
• When mowed, it mixes with lawn grasses.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged.
• Roots are difficult to remove with tools.

How to Identify Creeping Buttercup

• The stems grow 1–2 feet tall when left unmowed. Creeping buttercup spreads across the ground with creeping stems that take root.
• Its shiny yellow flowers are 1 inch across. They have 5–7 petals that are about ½-inch long (upper right photo).
• Has three-lobed, dark green leaves with white spots (lower right photo).

Creeping Woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata)

• Creeping woodsorrel plants live more than two years (perennial).
• It spreads aggressively by seeds and creeping stems. It forms dense patches with sprawling, reddish stems.
• When mowed, creeping woodsorrel mixes with lawn grasses.
• It dominates an area when left unmanaged. Creeping woodsorrel readily spreads into non-lawn areas.
• The roots are easy to remove compared to many other weeds.

How to Identify Creeping Sorrel

• The leaves have 3 heart-shaped lobes.
• The stems and leaves often have a reddish color.
• Creeping woodsorrel forms yellow flowers with five petals (right photo).

Creeping Speedwell (Veronica filiformis)

• This is a low-growing perennial plant.
• It prefers shady locations and moist soils.
• When mowed, creeping speedwell mixes with lawn grasses.

How to Identify Creeping Speedwell

• It forms blue-violet flowers in the spring (upper right).
• The flowers have 4 petals.
• Creeping speedwell leaves grow alternately on stems that creep along the ground (lower right photo).

Lawn Ivy / Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea)

• This low-growing perennial spreads by creeping horizontal stems.
• When mowed, lawn ivy forms a dense mat that outcompetes grasses (left photo).
• It thrives in moist shady areas. Tolerates full sun.
• Lawn ivy benefits pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Lawn Ivy

• Its blue-to-lavender, funnel-shaped flowers are asymmetrical (upper right photo).
• The kidney- or fan-shaped leaves grow opposite along the stem (lower right photo).

Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

• Field bindweed dies back in winter. It regrows from roots that extend up to 1–2 feet deep.
• It grows in a wide range of conditions, including roadways, lawns, and landscapes.
• Field bindweed is a vining perennial that spreads by creeping horizontal stems and roots.
• When mowed, the plant forms a dense mat that outcompetes grasses.
• Stems grow 2–4 feet long and climb up plants and structures when left unmowed.

How to Identify Field Bindweed

• Its arrow-shaped leaves grow opposite each other along the stem.
• Field bindweed’s trumpet-shaped flowers are white to pink in color and ½ to 1 inch across.

See How to Get Rid of Field Bindweed.

Spotted Spurge (Euphorbia maculata)

• Spotted spurge completes its life cycle in one year during the warm season.
• It spreads by tiny textured seeds.
• It grows in a wide range of conditions, including roadways, lawns, and landscapes.
• Spotted spurge forms a dense, spreading mat.
• The plant features small, dark-green leaves with a red spot.
• Its milky sap may irritate the skin. Use gloves when handling plants.

How to Identify Spotted Spurge

• Spotted spurge grows sprawling red stems from a central point.
• Its leaves grow in opposite pairs along the stem. Each leaf is 1/8- to 1/2-inch long and 1/8-inch wide.
• The leaves have an elongated dark mark.

Common Meadow Violet (Viola sororia)

• Common meadow violet is a low-growing perennial plant about 6 inches across and 4 inches high.
• It is a wildflower native to Eastern North America.
• It spreads by rhizomes (roots) and seeds.
• It grows in a wide range of conditions, including lawns and landscapes.
• Common meadow violet serves as a host plant for pollinators.
• You may leave this plant alone in lawns.

How to Identify Meadow Violet

• Its purple flowers have 5 rounded petals. Hairs grow in a beard along one edge of the flower funnel.
• The heart-shaped leaves grow up to 3 inches across and long.

Broadleaf Plantain (Plantago major)

• Broadleaf plantain is a widely naturalized plant that grows in a broad range of conditions.
• It grows as a clump, and spreads by seed and not by rhizomes.
• Broadleaf plantain pollinates by seeds spread by wind. Each plant produces up to 20,000 seeds.

How to Identify Broadleaf Plantain

• The oval leaves grow 1–4 inches wide and 2–8 inches long. They have a long-leaf stem (petiole). Broadleaf plantain leaves have noticeable vines over the length of each leaf.
• Its greenish-brown flowers grow in dense spikes 2–6 inches long, on the end of 5–6 inch stems.

Buckhorn plantain (Plantago lanceolota)

• This is a widely naturalized plant that grows in a broad range of conditions.
• Buckhorn plantain grows as a clump. It spreads by seed and not by rhizomes.
• It is wind-pollinated and spread by seeds. Each plant produces up to 20,000 seeds.

How to Identify Buckhorn Plantain

• The narrow leaves grow 1–2 inches wide and 2–8 inches long. They have a short leaf stem (petiole). Buckhorn plantain leaves have 3–5 noticeable vines over the length of each leaf.
• Its greenish-brown flowers with white petals grow in dense spikes 1 to 2 inches long at the end of 4- to 16-inch stems.

Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)

• Bittercress completes its life cycle in 1 year (annual) or 2 years (biennial), depending on the climate.
• It is common in moist, recently disturbed soil. It grows in open ground, lawns, and neglected areas.
• Bittercress spreads aggressively by seed. It forms seed pods that break open to scatter seeds far from the mother plant.

How to Identify Bittercress

• It grows as small upright plants from the base.
• Bittercress leaves are finely lobed with 8–15 leaflets on long-leaf stems (petioles).
• The small, white flowers with 4 petals grow in clusters at the end of stems up to 1 foot long.

Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)

• Dead nettle completes its life cycle in less than a year. It grows in the cool season.
• The plant spreads aggressively by seeds in disturbed soil.
• It has upright stems with red and purple leaves.
• Dead nettle benefits pollinators such as honey bees.

How to Identify Dead Nettle

• The plant grows greenish to purplish stems and leaves. The stems are hairy and square with 4 edges.
• Its hairy leaves grow alternately along the stem.
• Dead nettle has pale pinkish-purple tubular flowers with purple streaks and spots.