To me, this is a pretty weed that is common and native in eastern North America in damp ground, fields, waste places, forest edges, and in landscapes and gardens. It gets nasty when its fruit of an achene (a sunflower kind of dry fruit) with two barbs on one end matures and gets attached to fur, feathers, or clothing of animals or people passing by touching it. That is how its seeds are spread. It grows to be 1 to 4 feet high. There are green leafy bracts around the dull yellow flower head. This member of the Aster or Daisy or Sunflower Family (Asteraceae or Compositae) does have the disc florets in its composite flower head but no ray florets. (The ray florets are the large yellow petals on a sunflower while the disc florets are the tiny brown center flowers.) The stalked leaves are divided into 3 to 5 lance-shaped, toothed divisions. It is easy to pull out of the ground, hopefully when the fruit is not mature.

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