# Can anyone identify this weed?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 6, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721 "2021-06-06T20:23:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/1 "2021-06-06T20:23:24Z")
These nasty things have invaded my garden. They spread with underground runners. When you pull them up, they stink something awful - if I don’t wear gloves when weeding, my hands stink for hours.
I’ve tried googling but I must not be using the right terms. I live in southern Maryland, but I think they came with some plants I got from my mom and she lives in northern Maryland. My next step will be to find the local ag office and ask there, but it’s easier to tap into the collective brain of the SDMB, right?
[ ](https://imgur.com/X3iJfK1)
[ ](https://imgur.com/uOip9Y2)
I tried searching for heart-shaped leaves, reddish edge, white flowers. No luck. And it’s not clear from these pictures, but the stigma is about 3/8-1/2" long. So, anyone?
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### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/2 "2021-06-06T20:25:25Z")
> **[Houttuynia cordata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houttuynia_cordata)**
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> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> Houttuynia cordata, also known as fish mint, fish leaf, rainbow plant, chameleon plant, heart leaf, fish wort, or Chinese lizard tail, is one of two species in the genus Houttuynia (the other being H. emeiensis). It is a flowering plant native to Southeast Asia. It grows in moist, shady locations. It was named after Martinus Houttuyn.
> Houttuynia cordata is a herbaceous perennial plant that can grow to 0.6–1 m (2 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in), spreadi...
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/3 "2021-06-06T20:28:00Z")
Holy cow - that was fast! And it didn’t come up on any of my searches. Thanks, @mikecurtis!
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### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/4 "2021-06-06T20:30:26Z")
I just happened to log on just as you posted. So your query was top of the list!
You’re welcome.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/5 "2021-06-06T20:37:56Z")
So his do you kill it? Or do you just eat it out of existences ?
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/6 "2021-06-06T21:06:36Z")
I just keep pulling it up, hoping I’ll eventually beat it. The way it smells, there’s no way I’d eat it. ick.
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### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/7 "2021-06-06T22:08:48Z")
It’s very tasty, imho.
From that wiki:
> Zhé’ěrgēn (Chinese: 折耳根, “broken ear-root”) is the edible rhizome of Houttuynia cordata (yuxingcao, 鱼腥草 “fish-smelling leaf”) with a fresh, spicy, peppery flavour that is used in southwestern Chinese cuisine, i.e. that of Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan and western Guangxi. Typically the leaves are eaten in Sichuan and the root in Guizhou. Zhé’ěrgēn fried with cured la rou (a dried meat resembling ‘Chinese bacon’) is one of the staple dishes of Guizhou.
Btw: I see you asked the question originally in the mmp. Which I think has a very limited reader base.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/8 "2021-06-06T23:17:27Z")
That’s why I started this thread - my MMP peeps don’t know it all, alas! 😉
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### Author:  [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/9 "2021-06-07T01:33:02Z")
I’ve got a cool free App called Seek that identifies a lot of plants (and insects) for me. It’s neat.
ETA: In fact, it just identified this as “Chameleon Plant” just by me pointing my phone at the monitor.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2021, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/10 "2021-06-07T11:12:47Z")
I sent my mom a picture of it, since I was pretty sure she was the source. She called it a Resurrection Plant and said she’d bought it! 😮 Once she realized what a pest it is, she tried to get rid of it - obviously without luck. I figure I’ll spend my summer (and probably next summer, and on and on) yanking the little bastards up.
And thanks for the top on Seek, @Folly - I’ll give it a try!
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2021, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/11 "2021-06-07T11:56:20Z")
Anyone else chuckle at the thread title?
On cannabis forums it’s not uncommon for a newbie to post a picture of a sprouted seed under a similar title. “Ahh, yes. The cotyledons of East Coast Sour Diesel. Looks like a female too!”
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-weed/943721/12 "2021-06-07T19:00:30Z")
I use the app “PictureThis”. They’re a little naggy about the full version, you have to kill a splash screen when opening (X is either in upper right or there’s a cancel button towards the bottom). It’s fairly accurate, I’d say I disagree with the judgment under 5% of the time. Google Lens is pretty terrible comparatively.