Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds.

Time of bloom: June to August.

Seed-time: July to September.

Range: Nova Scotia to Alaska, southward to New Jersey, Illinois, and Minnesota, and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. Also a native of Europe. Habitat: Dry soil; cultivated grounds; waste places.

Stem six inches to two feet high, slender, pale green, often striped with purple, with numerous ascending branches. Leaves triangular or halberd-shaped, one to three inches long, thin, pale green, irregularly and coarsely toothed, not mealy; petioles slender, the lower ones about as long as the blades. Flowers in rounded, densely crowded, sessile clusters along the upper part of the stem and branches and in the lower axils; calyx three- to five-parted, becoming pulpy and deep red when ripe, making the clusters look like strawberries. Seed ovoid, slightly flattened, smooth, dull black. (Fig. 68.)

Means Of Control

Prevent seed production either by hand-pulling or by close cutting while in bloom.