This section is from the book "A Manual Of Weeds", by Ada E. Georgia. Also available from Amazon: A Manual Of Weeds.
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds.
Time of bloom: June to September.
Seed-time: July to October.
Range: Prairies, Kansas to Arkansas and Texas.
Habitat: Cultivated crops, grain fields, meadows, pastures.
A sturdy weed, with a stout, woody, branching stem, one to three feet tall, very objectionable in pasture or meadow, for cattle reject the plant either as green forage or as hay and it dulls and breaks the mowing-machine knives. The whole plant is covered with soft, fuzzy, grayish hairs. Leaves alternate and sessile, but vary in shape from lanceolate to sometimes nearly linear at the upper part of the plant, to wavy-toothed or even pinnatifid ones near the base. Flowers white or pinkish, nearly an inch across, the calyx very hairy, its tube funnel-shaped above the ovary, with linear, reflexed lobes; the stamens are shorter than the petals, but the style is long, with four-parted stigma. The nut-like fruit is sparingly hairy or sometimes smooth, four-ribbed, tapering to both base and apex but narrowing most abruptly to the short, slender pedicel.
Prevent reproduction and spreading by cutting the flowering stalks before any fruit has matured. In order to destroy the perennial roots it is necessary to put the land under cultivation.