please identify this weed

 Hello,

I live in mid-Missouri. I have had this weed on one side of my front
lawn since I moved in a couple of years back, and used to just pull them
out once every couple of weeks. Finally I got tired, and decided to pull
it out with the roots. I dug up around one of the sprouts a bit, and
"the roots" are over an inch thick and cross my lawn in several
directions. They almost look like they come from a tree, except there's
no like tree anywhere nearby. Here are some photos:

http://gvshoot.com/html/modules/xcgal/albums/userpics/10001/weeds_001.jpg
http://gvshoot.com/html/modules/xcgal/albums/userpics/10001/weeds_003.jpg
http://gvshoot.com/html/modules/xcgal/albums/userpics/10001/weeds_005.jpg

I'd like to find out what plant it is, and how to best get rid of it.

Thanks,
Paul

 Pawel Slusarz said:


Got any Liquidambar styraciflua in the area?  

--

Eggs

A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

 Eggs Zachtly wrote:


Not that I know of, but it's possible, even though the plant's official
range ends 300 miles south of here.

I have noticed that "aromatic foliage" is a quality of this plant. I
forgot to mention, but my "weed" emits a pleasant lime-like aroma when I
destroy the sprouts. I also see "chlorosis" mentioned as one of the
potential diseases - some of the sprouts (5% or so) end up dying from it
before I can get to them.

 On 10/7/2007 7:45 PM, Pawel Slusarz wrote:

Sweet of Eggs to identify that 'weed' for you.  If you're sure there are
no /trees/ with leaves like that nearby (even next door), scratching the
roots and applying RoundUp to the scratches might take care of them.  A
caveat- a friend at Sam Rayburn wanted to kill a sassafras tree that
kept coming up next to his house and did the above.  He also killed 4
more nearby.  Their roots, like sweet gum, are(were) interconnected.

--
Ted
I wasn't born in Texas but
I got back here as soon as I could

If you're not a part of the solution,there's
good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

 Pawel Slusarz said:


Really? Where'd you get your range information? A lookup of L. styraciflua
at plants.usda.gov [1] shows it's range as including ALL of the states from
Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, to the eastern seaboard (with the
exception of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire), and California. I'm near
StL, and they're all over the freakin place, here. I'm hardly 300 miles
from mid-Missouri (I *am* in mid-Missouri). ;)

I'm not saying that's what it is, but the first look at the leaves appear
so. There are other trees whos leaves resemble that of the Sweetgum. Have
you checked the tree lines around that area, for any suspects?


That would be a new one on me, then. Are the stems hollow?


You could put all green plants in that category. Chlorosis can be caused by
several things (poor drainage, pH, nutrient deficiencies, etc). It's simply
a yellowing of tissue, due to a lack of (or diminished production of)
chlorophyll.

--

Eggs

If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?