I thought I knew ragweed. It's a six foot or taller monster of a plant usually lining all the stream beds. So when a short plant that was taprooted, but still easy to pull showed up in my tree circle I didn't think much of it. It maxed out at about a foot tall and was actually keeping the grass out. After winter killed it I pulled them and laid them down and it made a very solid mulch that still kept the grass out. I loved this plant. This year as I garden I've been letting it grow again wherever it won't shade out new plants.
Then last week I read an article on common
lawn weeds. I do that periodically because it sometimes helps me identify useful plants like plantain. There was a very familiar picture there. Finally I would have a name for this great mulch plant. Oops, I had a nice crop of common ragweed. At least I don't need to feel guilty for tormenting the neighborhood. In fall I could see a whole field of this from my front yard
I know you can use the plant to make an allergy remedy. Does that just work on ragweed allergies? If it's more general, I may harvest from that field this fall.