Three-seeded Mercury (Copperleaf)

What it looks like

An upright plant, usually 6 inches to 2 feet tall, with toothed, diamond- to oval-shaped leaves on long stalks that crowd together near the top. Look where each leaf meets the stem: the tiny flowers sit inside small, lobed, leafy cups. Each seed pod holds three seeds, which gives it its name, and the leaves often turn a coppery red in fall.

Often mistaken for: Nettles (it has no stinging hairs) or young pigweed

When it shows up in the Triangle

A summer annual: it sprouts in late spring once the soil warms and keeps flowering and dropping seed until frost.

Where you’ll see it

Thin lawns, mulched beds, gardens and lawn edges, especially in moist, fertile soil.

What you can do

• Pull it young, before the leafy cups at the leaf joints set seed
• Keep the lawn thick so there is less bare soil for it to sprout in
• Mulch beds 2 to 3 inches deep
• Mow regularly so it cannot flower and seed in the lawn