Asked on Jun 17, 2013

Does Anyone Know What This Plant Is?

I had three of these growing in my front garden last year and did not ever plant them.
Then this year, I have discovered one in the back veggie garden.
Anyone have any idea what it is?
  14 answers
  • Kristin Crankshaw Kristin Crankshaw on Jun 17, 2013
    It is a yellow false indigo.
  • HI Kristin - is it a weed or an actual plant? Google images for false yellow indigo don't look like my plant to be honest. Mine from last year were about 4 feet tall and wide and just took over the garden. Very tough stalks and long bean lik\e pods with yellow flowers that were more insignificant. The link in my question gives more photos of the plant. Carol
  • Phyllis Downey Phyllis Downey on Jun 17, 2013
    I am glad you asked about this as it may also be popping up in my beds. I think it is a Cassia plant. If so it has lovely yellow flowers in late summer/fall in zone 8b where i live near the SC coast. Does anyone else think so?
  • Hi Phyllis. I just Googled Cassia and it does look very much like my plant. Thanks so much for the information. I will add it to the post that I have on my website about the plant! Carol
  • I found this link to a page on Google http://butterflies.heuristron.net/plants/cassiabicapsularis.html. It seems to be identical to my plant and definitely does attract the butterflies and bees. And I thought it was a weed! Carol
  • Nancy Hand Nancy Hand on Jun 17, 2013
    Weed! Coffee weed! pull it and throw it in the trash. They will be all over the place. :)
  • LOL Now I am confused. I was so sure it was a cassia. I did remove the ones from last year and they did spread, but that picture of the cassia sure does look exactly like my plant.
  • Actually you are both right. Coffee weed is also called Cassia obtusifolia. Description that I found was 2 to 3 pairs of leaflets that are broader near the end than near the base. Grows up to 5 feet tall. Yellow flowers bloom from June until frost and are replaced by very slender, curved, 9-inch pods. Poisonous if consumed in large quantities. Can host the tobacco etch virus. Nevertheless, it has been used both for food and medicine. Nomadic tribal people in North Africa make a paste out of the leaves and ferment it as a source of protein. Tea made from the seeds is used to treat fatigue, stomachaches, and headaches, probably because of caffeine content. Found in the Acadiana Nature Park along the levee. That is definitiely what I had in the front yard. And you are right Nancy...it does spread. Even digging it out was a chore.
  • Thanks for the help ladies!
  • Judy Bond Judy Bond on Jun 21, 2013
    Girl, if you lived in the South in the 60's, 70's, & 80's when everyone had a huge garden you might remember the coffee weed! About the only thing worse in our garden when I was a girl was bermuda grass. I agree with Nancy! Pull that thing up and throw it in the trash. They spread quickly and are very difficult to get rid of!
  • I've discovered more of them in the back yard near my compost pile. Guess I should not have composted last years plants! :(
  • Sadly, I have Bermuda grass too. sigh... a "twofer"
  • Julie Burnell Julie Burnell on Dec 26, 2016

    Buttercup

  • Syamalee Syamalee on Jan 02, 2017

    This is Cassia Tora a medicinal herb in our country.The leaves are edible.They spread rapidly .