Rosette leaves with fine hairs and wide leaf tips. May. Each flower has four petals and four sepals. Collectively, the flowers have a yellow-green appearance. Plants are blue-green in color and usually grow 2 to 4 feet high, successfully shading out their neighbors. Stem leaves are alternate, lance-shaped and slightly hairy.
Lower leaves have a short petiole, while the upper leaves clasp the stalk.
The large, branched taproot may reach more than 5 feet deep. Although the weed sometimes spreads from underground portions of the root system, it spreads mainly by seeds. Prominent cream colored mid-rib extending from leaf to base. Each mature pod contains one brownish-yellow seed. Pods change from green to black or dark brown when mature.