Importance

Common in vegetable crops and spring cereals. Removes great quantities of nutrients from the soil. Likes nitrogen.

1. Cotyledons and first leaves are mealy, giving them a silvery appearance. The cotyledons are purplish beneath, borne on a purple stem.

2. The true leaves have toothed margins and are relatively broad.

3. An annual of erect habit, with dense clusters of small green flowers. © Alamy Ltd