Pineapple weed
August 10, 2015
Matricaria discoidea DC.
Life cycle
Pineapple-scented, fernlike winter or summer annual.
Leaves
Alternate, very finely dissected, feathery or fernlike leaves are hairless and 0.5 to 2 inches long. Leaves initially develop from a dense basal rosette. Damaged leaves emit a sweet pineapple odor.
Stems
Short, hairless, erect or spreading stems with multiple branching from the base, up to 16 inches in height.
Flowers and fruit
Numerous greenish yellow flowers in a globe- to cone-shaped head are formed on the ends of branches. Light green bracts surround the base of the flower head. Damaged flowers emit a sweet pineapple odor. The seed is enclosed in a single-seeded, oblong and ribbed, light brown fruit.
Reproduction
Seeds.
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