Monthly Archives: May 2025

conservation biocontrol, habitat at home

Wildflower or weed? Recognizing perennial wildflower seedlings

Woman in a red shirt and green puffy vest plants seeds in a raised bed filled with soil. Orange stakes mark where rows of seeds will be planted.
You can plant seeds of native, perennial wildflowers into well-prepared soil in the fall. But how will you recognize your seedlings in the spring? Photo credit: Jody Benedict, Cornell IPM

So, you planted seeds of native, perennial wildflowers in some well-prepared soil last fall, letting Mother Nature do the seed stratification for you. You even carefully labeled the spot where you planted your seeds. Now seedlings are sprouting…but are they your wildflowers? Or are they weeds?

Last fall, I also planted a bunch of perennial wildflower seeds in some raised beds. Unfortunately, these beds had last been used as a demonstration weed garden. So, I’ve got large deposits in my weed seed bank. Even though I labeled my seeds, it’s taking careful observation to spot the emerging wildflowers. Also, I’m spending a lot of time pulling weeds. I’m sharing what I’m learning to make your wildflower ID easier!

Raised bed filled with smoothed soil and two rows of orange wooden stakes running down the middle of the bed
A labeled orange stake marks the beginning of a row of perennial wildflower seeds planted in November 2024.

A few general tips for wildflower seedling identification

Unless you have been doing years of meticulous weed management, chances are there will be at least a few weeds sprouting amongst your wildflowers. Here are a few general tips to help you distinguish weed from wildflower, no matter what you planted:

  • Know your monocots and dicots. Cotyledons are the very first, often quite simple, leaves to emerge from a seed. Grasses are common monocotyledons (monocots for short) and produce a single, narrow, spikey first leaf. Subsequent (true) leaves will also be narrow and spikey. Many wildflowers (Ohio spiderwort being a notable exception) are dicotyledons, or dicots. The first leaves (cotyledons) of dicots emerge from the seed in a pair. Subsequent leaves may emerge singly or in pairs, but these true leaves are usually wider and less spikey than monocots. For this reason, you may have heard dicots also described as “broadleaves.” If you planted seeds of a dicot (most wildflowers), and you see monocot seedlings, they are probably weeds.
  • Notice patterns. Do you see a similar seedling distributed across an entire garden bed? It’s likely a weed. Is something sprouting only near the stake where you marked wildflower seeds last fall? It’s more likely to be what you planted.
  • When it doubt, watch and see. Weeds usually grow quite a bit faster than your perennial wildflowers. If you aren’t sure if something is a weed or a wildflower, wait a week or so to see how it changes. Cotyledons usually look very different from the true leaves of a plant, and as the seedling grows, it will become easier to identify. For those interested in identifying weeds early, this Weed Seedling Identification Guide from Montana State University has some nice pictures of weeds when they are very small.
Many rosettes of small plants with many oval-shaped leaves growing in front of three different orange wooden stakes, each marking a row where wildflower seeds were planted.
I don’t know what these plants are, but the same kind of seedling is evenly distributed across a space where I planted several different wildflower seeds, and not in rows. It is a weed.

Wildflower seedlings I’ve identified

Some of the following pictures are from the raised beds where I planted seeds last fall. Others are from seeds I stratified and germinated inside.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

The first true leaves are produced in pairs, and look like they have little spikes on them. Subsequent leaves appear first deeply lobed, and then increasingly “feathery.” Seedlings grow as rosettes, and can be mistaken for weeds that also grow as rosettes and have deeply lobed leaves. Keep watching as foliage matures (or weeds flower).

mall seedlings with pairs of opposite leaves. The first true leaves appear to have a few spikes or barbs on them.
The first true leaves a yarrow plant produces have little spikes, but don’t look fine and feathery like the mature leaves.
When yarrow leaves are still lobed, the young yarrow plant can be mistaken for weeds that also grow in rosettes and have deeply lobed leaves.

Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

The cotyledons of butterfly milkweed are fairly broad and look “fleshier” than most weed seedlings. The true leaves which emerge next are much narrower.

Close-up of seedlings with broad, slightly fleshy cotyledons and narrow true leaves emerging in pairs.
You can start to see the narrower true leaves starting to emerge on these butterfly milkweed seedlings, in contrast to the larger cotyledons.
Larger seedlings with pairs of narrow leaves. Wider cotyledons are still visible at the bottom of the plant.
As the butterfly milkweed seedlings grow, all of their true leaves are narrow and produced in pairs opposite each other.

Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides)

These pictures are of giant yellow hyssop seedlings (Agastache nepetoides), although I suspect that anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) seedlings look similar. True leaves are produced in pairs. At least on the early true leaves, the veins are reddish and slightly recessed, contributing to a slightly “puckered” leaf appearance. Leaf edges are broadly scalloped. Later true leaves will be more arrow-shaped compared to the rounder early true leaves.

Tiny seedlings with pairs of cotyledons and true leaves growing in potting mix. The true leaves have red veins and look slightly puckered.
Especially when they are small, leaves of giant yellow hyssop look a little puckered.
Cluster of small seedlings growing out of potting mix with pairs of round or heart-shaped leaves and scalloped edges.
On older seedlings, the veins of the true leaves are still reddish, but the leaves look less puckered. The edges are scalloped.

Blue false indigo (Baptisia australis)

Blue false indigo is in the same family as peas and beans; a legume. Its seeds are fairly large and its cotyledons are large and fleshy, similar to butterfly milkweed. As the true leaves start to emerge, they will look more like pea leaves.

Seedlings with fleshy cotyledons emerging from soil
Blue false indigo seedlings emerging from soil. The first true leaf is still folded up and you can’t see its shape in this picture.
Several cardboard pots with seedlings that look sort of like peas emerging from them.
As blue false indigo seedlings grow, their first true leaf is broad but thin. As the plant grows, leaves will start to look more like those of peas or clover.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Purple coneflower, or echinacea has fairly non-descript cotyledons. Its first true leaf will look more like the leaves of the mature plant; heart- or arrow-shaped and slightly hairy. One true leaf emerges at a time.

Two seedlings emerging from potting mix. One has small cotyledons that are still unfolding. The other has a pair of cotyledons and a single heart-shaped true leaf.
Young purple coneflower seedling.
A small echinacea seedling growing amidst grassy weeds.
Leaves of more mature purple coneflower plants shaped like arrows or elongated hearts with slightly toothed edges.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Unlike the previous three wildflowers, wild bergamot produces true leaves in pairs, always opposite each other. The early true leaves are heart-shaped. Later true leaves start to become more elongated with toothed edges. The seedlings I’ve spotted have a reddish or purplish tinge around the outer edges of their leaves.

A small seedling with pairs of heart-shaped leaves. Leaf edges have a slightly purple color.
Wild bergamot seedlings produce true leaves in pairs.
Seedling with older pairs of leaves heart-shaped, and newest pair of leaves longer and toothed.
Older true leaves of wild bergamot are more elongated than the early true leaves, and toothed edges start to become more prominent.

Tall white beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

Tall white beardtongue seedlings also produce leaves with reddish edges, but both the edges and surface of the leaves are smooth; no tiny hairs. It produces true leaves in opposite pairs like wild bergamot.

Tiny seedlings with opposite pairs of leaves and purplish edges growing in moist potting mix.
Young tall white beardtongue seedlings look similar to wild bergamot seedlings.
Two seedlings with opposite pairs of leaves and purplish and smooth leaf edges.
I’m pretty sure these are tall white beardtongue seedlings, but they’re sprouting in my raised bed (with plenty of weed seeds around), so I’m going to keep watching these.

Blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta)

First, it’s important to note that multiple species in the genus Rudbeckia may be called “blackeyed susan”. Rudbeckia hirta plants have very, very fuzzy leaves, and the first true leaf – a single leaf – is also extremely fuzzy. I’ve started seeds of different varieties of R. hirta, and the coloration of the seedlings is slightly different, as shown in the two pictures below. I haven’t tried growing them from seed, but I suspect that R. fulgida, whose true leaves are much less hairy than R. hirta would also produce less hairy seedlings.

Tiny seedling with a pair of small, round cotyledons and a single very fuzzy and more oblong true leaf. Cotyledons and true leaf are green.
Seedlings of Rudbeckia hirta have extremely fuzzy true leaves.
Tiny seedling with a pair of small, round, red cotyledons and a single very fuzzy and more oblong true leaf with a slightly red edge.
This is a different variety, but still R. hirta. Notice the cotyledons are more red.

 Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)

As the name suggests, smooth blue asters produce leaves with smooth edges, and few (but not quite zero) hairs. The cotyledons are pretty non-descript, and the true leaves – produced one at a time, instead of in pairs – are roughly heart-shaped. I’ve noticed that the newest true leaf emerges curled up length-wise, unrolling as it grows.

Group of seedlings with smooth cotyledons and true leaves.
Smooth blue aster seedlings have smooth, heart-shaped or oblong true leaves.
Close-up of a group of seedlings with smooth leaves. An arrow and text box label an emerging curled leaf.
New true leaves of smooth blue aster emerge rolled up lengthwise.

New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)

So far, the New York ironweed seedlings look non-descript, both when they first germinate, and through at least a couple sets of true leaves. Their true leaves are produced in pairs and their surface is smooth. Older true leaves have subtly toothed edges.

Tiny seedlings emerging from moist potting mix with paired cotyledons and tiny true leaves.
New York ironweed seedlings look fairly non-descript and may be difficult to distinguish from weeds.
Older seedlings growing in cardboard pots with smooth leaf surfaces.
Older New York ironweed seedlings start to produce true leaves with slightly-toothed edges, but the leaf surface is still smooth.

Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea)

Golden alexanders are in the carrot family, along with parsley. Their first true leaves are wide and heart-shaped with very regularly toothed edges, produced one at a time. This is in stark contrast to the cotyledons, which are narrow and might almost be mistaken for grass seedlings at first glance. As the plants grow, true leaves will be made up of three leaflets.

Cardboard pots filled with potting mix, each containing several small seedlings with long, narrow leaves.
Golden alexander seedlings emerge from soil or potting mix with pairs of long, narrow cotyledons.
Seedlings growing in carboard pots filled with potting mix. Both the tooth-edged heart-shaped first true leaf and the long narrow cotyledons are visible.
The first true leaves of golden alexander are heart-shaped single leaflets with very regularly toothed edges, similar to a single parsley leaflet.
Seedling producing compound leaves made of three leaflets.
This golden alexander seedling is a year or two old, and its true leaves are now sets of three leaflets, but each leaflet is still heart-shaped and has toothed edges.

So far, I think this is one of the easiest perennial wildflowers to start from seed. They readily germinate either inside after cold-moist stratification, or if you plant them outside in the fall. Once they start producing true leaves, they are very distinctive and easy to spot amongst weeds in the garden…unless you happened to plant them where a parsley plant went to seed the previous year!

 

Those are the wildflowers I’ve successfully germinated (and recognized) so far! As more (hopefully) sprout, I’ll add pictures and descriptions.

 

I have started working on a printable version of this information. Pictures and brief descriptions for eight of the above species are available.

Wildflower seedling identification in English

Wildflower seedling identification en Español

 

This post was written by Amara Dunn-Silver, Biocontrol Specialist with the Cornell IPM Program.

This work is supported by the NYS Departments of Environmental Conservation and Agriculture and Markets.