I have seen these all my life & never knew what they are. This is growing in north central Fl., zone 8. I know they will get quite tall (4-5') over the growing season & have a pungent scent when you run your hands along them. They are just popping up now from the winter.

Looks like something in the Apiaceae family. Possibly some type of Chervil. These two grow in Florida.
Chaerophyllum procumbens - http://www.missouriplants.com/...
Chaerophyllum tainturieri - http://www.missouriplants.com/...

No Jay, the foliage on these stays much finer than the two links you provided. I can see it in my minds eye.

They have an awesome taproot. You can NOT pull them up even as young as these are.

Edited to add above line.

It looks so familiar, reminds me most of carrot leaves. Could it be a type of wild carrot?

You know Janet, I was wondering that myself. And because they're so tough to pull up, I've never seen the roots And they've never grown in my yard so I never had cause to dig them out with a shovel. They most often seem to grow in disturbed areas & cow/horse pastures --- places like that. Full sun. I haven't been tromping through those kind of places in a number of years & I can't remember what the bloom looks like. I never paid attention back then to any bloom on it --- I know it would not have been anything that caught my eye.

Look at the bottom right photo of Daucus carota subsp. sativus ..

http://www.guenther-blaich.de/...

Of course cultivated carrots come in many forms, the hairy stems you show I have seen on some rogue carrots which usually have a not so orange root, more often a yellow root which looks to be a throw back to the wild form.

Carrots do make flower heads of course, or you wouldn't be able to buy the seeds. This is what your 'weed' looks like to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Looks like Yarrow, Achillea sp.

Either of you could be correct. I will have to keep an eye on it & take more photos as it progresses & dig with the shovel next time we're out there & see what's what.

On second look the Achillea doesn't have the leaf branching as does the Daucus carota subsp. sativus. So I'm inclined to think more along that direction --- gone wild.

tropicbreeze said:Looks like Yarrow, Achillea sp.

I have Yarrow growing in my garden, it's very different. Look at the photos..

http://www.weedalert.com/weed_...

I agree Janet --- it's not yarrow although I love yarrow & wish it were yarrow.

JRsbugs said:It looks so familiar, reminds me most of carrot leaves. Could it be a type of wild carrot?

Which is why I said Apiaceae (Carrot Family).

Maybe Daucus pusillus, it grows in her area of Florida.

I din't get as far as checking all the Daucus species in the area, it could be Daucus pusillus, but I'm not sure if the foliage matches ... it looks quite coarse and the leaves look very hairy.

http://www.wnmu.edu/academic/n...

http://www.fireflyforest.com/f...

http://fallbrooksource.com/gal...

http://src.sfasu.edu/~jvk/Pine...

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/...

Janet, can you find some close up photos of Orlaya grandiflora foliage? Do you think this is a possibility?

OOPS cross posted.

Hmmmm.... in your first link there it says "The leaves are pinnately dissected with linear leaf segments, are often densely covered in bristly hairs" but does not say always covered in hairs. So take a look at the top row, 3rd photo from the left in your link:

http://fallbrooksource.com/gal...

I don't see any hairs on those leaves --- what do you think?

I'd vote for wild carrot. I get lots of them in my yard. aka WEED to me.

Karen

I'm not sure what I think, some of the leaves in your photos look to be very fine and not as broad as Daucus pusillus. Whatever, it's a wild carrot.

Okay, I'm going to put this one on hold for a bit until we get back out there & I investigate further. Now I know more of what I'm looking for with it. I'm content that it's wild carrot & that is listed as a native here. I'm inclined to think it's Daucus pusillus. The ones on our place are so young yet but I know it grows fast & expect to be able to see a much more mature plant very soon.