What plant is that?

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hairy crabweed--wholeplant hairy crabweek -- flower

Photos: © Brian Maynard

The July 2022 Mystery Plant is a fairly new arrival to the northeast, reported only in CT, but found in Wakefield, RI in 2021. This erect annual grows about 12-15” tall with alternate triangular toothed leaves. Stems are round, hairy, and may turn dark maroon. The flowers are in axillary clusters up to 3/4 inch across. These clusters start out purple and fade to dark brown. Each inconspicuous flower has 5 separate sepals and petals and 4 stamens, with separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The single-seeded fruit shoots its seed up to several meters. This plant is a common nursery and greenhouse weed but, being new-ish, is in GoBotany buy not Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.

It is . . .

Botanical Name:
  
Fatoua villosa
Common Name:
   hairy crabweed
Family:
   Moraceae (mulberry family)
Habitat:
   man-made or disturbed habitats