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A Forager’s Year

No. 82

Shaggy soldier

Galinsoga quadriradiata (also G. parviflora)

hairy galinsoga, quickweed, Peruvian daisy; also smooth galinsoga

Leaves & tender stems young plants, leaves and tender tops (usually cooked)

Drawing: Britton & Brown, Illustrated Flora (1913)

Find
Patchy
Effort
Quick kitchen prep
ID risk
Careful
Origin
non-native
Safety marks
  • Toxic lookalike
Uses
  • Eat raw / salad
  • Cooked vegetable / soup
  • Spice & seasoning

Season

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

in season peak

Picking: No park we checked allows it. Anywhere else, ask whoever owns or runs the land. See Where you may pick.

What these mean

Find

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

ID risk

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Native or not, and the invader stars

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Safety marks and flags

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

Seasons

Start, peak and end are given in thirds of a month: early, mid or late. A plant counts as in season for a month if it is in season at any point in that month. Some greens and roots have a second window, in spring or fall; their page shows each window. A season that runs across New Year is shown as one window.

What it looks like

A fast-growing summer annual weed of the aster family, native to South America and central Mexico (NC State). It grows upright to about 2 feet, with hairy stems that branch in pairs, and opposite, egg-shaped to triangular leaves with coarsely toothed edges, three distinct veins from the base and coarse hairs (Cornell; NC State). The tiny flower heads, about 1/4 inch across, usually have five short white rays, each with three teeth at the tip, around a yellow center (NC State; Cornell). Smooth galinsoga is very similar but has fewer hairs, narrower leaves and smaller flower heads (West Virginia University; University of Florida; Cornell), and is eaten the same way (Eat The Weeds; Brooklyn Botanic Garden). The whole plant except the root is eaten, but the leaves are the best part (Eat The Weeds). Eat The Weeds calls the taste great, while the Brooklyn Botanic Garden finds the leaves have little flavor of their own but add nutrition and bulk to a dish.

Safety

No toxicity to people is reported in the sources checked: the University of Florida rates shaggy soldier non-toxic, NC State lists no poisonous parts, a 2017 review calls smooth galinsoga non-toxic (Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research), and a 2023 review reports no toxic effects in rats given a single large dose of a smooth galinsoga tea powder (Heliyon). Eat The Weeds says smooth galinsoga is toxic to goats. Both galinsogas take up cadmium from contaminated soil into the parts above ground, and studies call them cadmium accumulators (Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2014; Huan Jing Ke Xue, 2021), so gather them only where the soil is known to be clean. Toxic lookalike, not recorded near DC: coat buttons (Tridax procumbens), which the University of Florida rates toxic; its flowers are nearly identical to galinsoga’s, but it grows low except for its upright flower stalks, while galinsoga grows upright as a whole plant (Eat The Weeds). Toxic lookalike at the seedling stage: Cornell says galinsoga seedlings can be confused with Virginia copperleaf, which NC State lists as a low-severity poison whose sap or juice can cause vomiting, diarrhea or dermatitis; copperleaf’s seed leaves have a notched, not broadly indented, tip, and all but its first true leaves are alternate, while galinsoga’s are opposite (Cornell), so pick plants with more than one pair of true leaves, all opposite. Galinsoga is a troublesome weed of gardens, vegetable fields, nurseries and landscape beds, where herbicides are used against it (University of Florida; West Virginia University), so pick only where you know nothing has been sprayed.

Lookalikes

  • Coat buttons (not recorded near DC) Tridax procumbens toxic

    Eat The Weeds calls coat buttons a potentially toxic look-alike whose flowers are nearly identical to galinsoga’s, so the rest of the plant must be checked: coat buttons grows low except for its upright flower stalks, while galinsoga grows upright as a whole plant, with opposite, oval, coarsely toothed leaves (Eat The Weeds). The University of Florida rates coat buttons toxic. Eat The Weeds says the government lists it as growing only in central and south Florida, and it has no iNaturalist sightings near DC.

  • Virginia copperleaf Acalypha virginica toxic

    Cornell names this mix-up only for seedlings: galinsoga seedlings can be confused with Virginia copperleaf, whose seed leaves have a notched, not broadly indented, tip, and all but whose first true leaves are alternate, while galinsoga’s are opposite (Cornell). Its young leaves are brown or copper-colored (NC State). NC State lists Virginia copperleaf as a low-severity poison: ingesting the sap or juice can cause vomiting, diarrhea or dermatitis.

Safety flags

Safety marks and flags: what this means

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

ID risk
Careful
Why
Galinsoga is picked as young plants, and Cornell says its seedlings can be confused with Virginia copperleaf, a low-severity poison whose sap or juice can cause vomiting, diarrhea or dermatitis (NC State). Copperleaf’s seed leaves have a notched, not broadly indented, tip, and all but its first true leaves are alternate, while galinsoga’s are opposite (Cornell), so pick plants with more than one pair of true leaves, all opposite. Coat buttons, rated toxic (University of Florida), has nearly identical flowers but is not recorded near DC and grows low except for its flower stalks, while galinsoga grows upright with opposite, oval, coarsely toothed leaves (Eat The Weeds). Smooth galinsoga, the closest look-alike, is eaten the same way.
Soil risk
higher
ID risk: what this means

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Soil risk: what this means

Based on the part you eat, following the urban-soil lead guidance on the Field safety page: higher for greens, shoots and roots; moderate for flowers; low for fruit, nuts and sap.

Field safety for every outing (poison ivy, ticks, soil, and more)

When to pick

Starts
mid May
Peak
early Jun–late Jul
Ends
mid Nov

Shaggy soldier is a summer annual that dies at the first frost (NC State; Cornell). West Virginia University says most of its seeds sprout in May and June, and Rutgers (New Jersey) advises looking for new plants from mid-May. New seedlings keep coming up until frost, especially where the soil has been disturbed (Cornell), so young plants and tender tops can be found from late spring into fall, while older plants flower from about mid-June until late fall (West Virginia University). iNaturalist sightings near DC run from mid April to late November. No source gives harvest dates for the DC area, so all three boundaries are estimates.

How the dates were worked out

Every start, peak and end was re-checked in October 2026. “Sourced” means a source opened during the check states that timing for the DC or Mid-Atlantic area. “Estimated” means no source states it exactly; the reason, the evidence and the source links are under “How the dates were worked out” on each plant’s page. Peaks are often estimated, because few sources name a peak. iNaturalist evidence means research-grade sightings near DC, by month, of the plant at that stage (for example, in fruit). iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Season basis: estimated: start, peak, end

Start

estimated: No source dates the first pickable young plants for the DC area; mid May follows Rutgers' advice to look for emerging plants from mid-May and West Virginia University’s May-to-June germination, and allows a couple of weeks for seedlings to reach a pickable size.

Peak

estimated: No source names a best month; June and July follow the main late-spring and early-summer flush of seedlings, when most plants are young and leafy, before most of them flower.

End

estimated: No source gives the first-frost date for the DC area; the plants keep growing and new seedlings keep coming until frost, and DC-area sightings continue into late November, so the window is closed in mid November, when frost has usually ended it.

Evidence

start: Rutgers (New Jersey): 'Start scouting fields around mid-May for emerging populations'. West Virginia University: 'most of the seed germination occurs from May to June'. Cornell: 'Emergence begins in early spring, peaks in late spring and early summer but continues until frost'. Eat The Weeds: 'TIME OF YEAR: May through fall in northern areas'. DC-area iNaturalist research-grade sightings: 2 in April, 4 in May. University of Maryland: seeds 'germinate early spring through late summer'. | peak: Cornell: emergence 'peaks in late spring and early summer' and 'Both species first flower 24-60 days after emergence'. West Virginia University: 'most of the seed germination occurs from May to June' and 'It produces flowers prolifically from about mid-June until late fall.' DC-area iNaturalist research-grade sightings: 23 in June, 8 in July. | end: Cornell: 'Both species of galinsoga die when exposed to even mild frost' and emergence 'continues until frost, particularly following soil disturbance'. Rutgers (New Jersey): 'Left uncontrolled, hairy galinsoga will take over production areas until a hard frost.' Eat The Weeds: 'May through fall in northern areas'. DC-area iNaturalist research-grade sightings: 22 in October, 11 in November, the last in the week of about November 18 to 24 (week 47).

Where to look

Sunny garden and landscape beds, vegetable plots, lawn edges, sidewalk cracks and other disturbed ground. It is logged only about 90 times near DC and no more than four times in any one place: most in Greenbelt’s North Woods and Hamilton Woods (picking rules not checked), then on the Georgetown University campus (private), in Riverbend Park and in Rock Creek Park, where picking is not allowed. Your own garden, or private land with the owner’s permission, away from sprayed beds and polluted soil, is where to pick.

Habitats
lawns & sidewalk cracks, disturbed ground & waste places, old fields & meadows
Habitats: what this means

Listed where the plant’s own sources place it in that habitat. “Disturbed ground & waste places” means a cited source places it on disturbed areas, sites, soil or ground, on waste places or waste ground, on construction or abandoned building sites (old home sites count), on rubble or in strip mines. When the source gives examples of the disturbed places, at least one example must be of that kind. Examples that do not count: natural or forestry disturbance (treefall gaps, fire, windthrow, flood scour, old riverbanks and creeks, clear-cuts); roadsides, railroads and rights-of-way; and abandoned fields, pastures and farmland, which are “Old fields & meadows”. “Vacant lots” only where a source says vacant or empty lots.

Most-logged places

None of the most-logged places allows picking.

Ask first: rules unclear or not checked

  • Greenbelt North Woods and Hamilton Woods

    4 sightings · Legal to pick: unknown · see them on iNaturalist

    Picking rules not checked.

No picking here (4 places)
  • Georgetown University campus

    3 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Private property: pick only with the owner’s permission.

  • Riverbend Park

    3 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Fairfax County parks ban removing any plant part without written permission.

  • Rock Creek Park

    3 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Rock Creek Park’s compendium bans gathering any fruit, nut, berry, seed or greenery.

  • Glenstone Museum grounds (private)

    2 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Private property: pick only with the owner’s permission.

Most-logged places: what this means

The places with the most research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km of downtown DC (re-counted in October 2026 over every named place, campuses, condominiums and private grounds included), each marked legal to pick or not. A sighting inside several named places counts once, for the smallest of them, but a sighting inside a National Park Service park never counts for a private, campus or unchecked place. iNaturalist shows where people walk and log plants, not true abundance. Private campuses, condominiums, museums, estates and utility land (Pepco’s power-line land near Sligo Creek) are marked “no” (pick only with the owner’s permission); public university campuses, city parks and other places whose picking rules were not checked (county stormwater land, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Greenbelt’s North Woods, federal facilities such as the National Zoo) are “unknown”. A place needs at least 2 sightings, so plants with very few sightings have no places. At-risk plants (butternut, nannyberry, American chestnut, ramps, riverbank goldenrod) get places like every other plant; each page says why the plant is at risk and gives any advice its sources give. For some places, mostly Rock Creek Park, the iNaturalist map shows more sightings than the count here, because a map link cannot leave out exactly the sightings credited to another place. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Ways to use it

  • boiled 10 to 15 minutes as a cooked green, excellent with butter, salt and pepper (Eat The Weeds)
  • young leaves in soup or in dishes such as risotto and lasagna (West Virginia University)
  • leaves, stems and flowers cooked in soups, as in southern Mexico (Cornell)
  • the herb guasca of Colombia, the main herb in a garlicky soup called ajiaco (smooth galinsoga; Brooklyn Botanic Garden)
  • raw leaves in salads (NC State; Eat The Weeds, which names the less hairy smooth galinsoga for this)
  • dried leaves as a flavoring (Eat The Weeds)
  • harvest the leaves and tender tops, and pick plenty, because the greens shrink in cooking (Eat The Weeds)

Keeping

Use within a few days, or blanch 2 minutes and freeze.

Use within
within a few days
Keeps fresh
Up to about 4 days in the refrigerator in a plastic bag (general guidance for spinach-type greens; University of Maine).
Keeping basis
general guidance for its type

Ways to keep it

  • Dry as researched: dry/dehydrate (tea or seasoning); canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)

    Eat The Weeds says dried leaves can be used for flavoring. NCHFP: dry herb leaves in warm, dry, well-ventilated air or in a dehydrator set to 95°F to 115°F until they crumble, then store them in airtight containers in a cool, dry, dark place.

  • Freeze as researched: blanch & freeze; canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)

    NCHFP: water-blanch greens 2 minutes (collards 3), cool, drain and package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. As a low-acid food, greens can only be pressure canned (Penn State), so freezing is the practical home method.

Canning: what this means

Shelf-stable canning, three levels. Lab-tested: a lab-tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or Oregon State covers this fruit and product, or a generic recipe for its kind (the line says so, for example chokeberry). Extension recipe: a published Extension recipe (University of Alaska Fairbanks, written for Alaska species; University of Maine’s dandelion jelly), or a process that is safe only with a pH meter; follow it exactly, never improvise. No tested recipe: refrigerate or freeze, don’t can. “Hot-bottled syrup” = maple and walnut syrup, which keep when bottled hot at full syrup density. The Canning line names the exact product each source covers, for example “whole berries” or “juice”; a product not named there (such as juice from a berry with only a whole-berry recipe) has no tested recipe.

Keeping basis: what this means

“Specific to this plant” or “general guidance for its type” (for example NCHFP guidance for leafy greens applied to a wild green).

Nutrition

Not researched: in October 2026, only the calendar’s plants of the month and chicory leaves were researched.

Native or not

Origin
non-native
Native range
Mexico to tropical South America
Virginia invasive rank
not listed
Maryland invasive status
not listed
Native or not, and the invader stars: what this means

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Virginia DCR, Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective September 2024), verbatim: "Under the DCR Invasive Species Assessment Protocol, approved by the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group, January 2024, species were ranked as exhibiting high, medium or low levels of invasiveness based on their threat to natural communities and native species. Invasiveness rank is higher for species that: • Alter ecosystem processes, such as succession, hydrology or fire regime. • Are capable of invading undisturbed natural communities. • Cause substantial impacts on rare or vulnerable species or natural communities or high-quality examples of more common communities. • Are found widely distributed and generally abundant where present. • Disperse readily to new areas. • Are difficult to control." The list also states: "The list is for educational purposes only and has no regulatory authority."

Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations page, verbatim: "Plants on the Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List may not be added to stock after the effective date and should not be sold after their phase-out period ends."

No official DC invasive plant list was found.

How the ratings were set

Find
Patchy Estimate 159 = 93 research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km + 65 needs-ID sightings counted in full (shaggy soldier and smooth galinsoga are the only Galinsoga species with research-grade sightings here) + 1 'cultivated' (planted) sighting (rule A); that is tier 3 by count (rule B). Rule D does not apply: the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora says shaggy soldier is "infrequent to locally common in the outer Piedmont and Coastal Plain" and smooth galinsoga "Infrequent throughout." in Virginia, which is not rare or very infrequent, and the same atlas says shaggy soldier is "Common in the mountains and inner Piedmont". Final tier 3.
Effort
Quick kitchen prep Pick plenty of the leaves and tender tops, boil them 10 to 15 minutes and season them with butter, salt and pepper, or add young leaves to soups and other dishes.
Find: what this means

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort: what this means

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

Sources

34 sources, each linked to the original.

  1. Rock Creek Park Superintendent’s Compendium National Park ServiceBacks up: picking rules
  2. 36 CFR 2.1 - Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of federal regulation)Backs up: picking rules
  3. Biology and Management of Galinsoga (Galinsoga quadriradiata) in Ornamental Crop Production (ENH1329) University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS)Backs up: description, habitat, safety
  4. Galinsoga quadriradiata (Fringed Quickweed, Hairy Galinsoga, Peruvian Daisy, Shaggy Soldier) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, habitat, uses, safety, season, native or invasive status
  5. Weed of the Month: Galinsoga Brooklyn Botanic GardenBacks up: description, uses
  6. Galinsogas (weed profile) Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Weed ScienceBacks up: description, uses, safety, season
  7. Galinsoga’s Gallant Soldiers (Galinsoga ciliata: Quickweed is fast food; Green Deane) Eat The WeedsBacks up: description, uses, safety, season, habitat, keeping
  8. Hairy Galinsoga (Rakesh Chandran) West Virginia University ExtensionBacks up: description, uses, season, habitat, safety
  9. iNaturalist research-grade observations of Galinsoga quadriradiata and G. parviflora within 25 km of downtown DC iNaturalistBacks up: findability
  10. Galinsoga (Weed Identification) University of Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information CenterBacks up: habitat
  11. Galinsoga quadriradiata Ruiz & Pavon (Fringed Quickweed, Hairy Galinsoga, Shaggy Soldier) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat, findability
  12. Galinsoga parviflora Cav. var. parviflora (Small-flower Quickweed, Gallant Soldier) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat, findability
  13. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area (Shetler & Orli) Smithsonian Institution, Department of BotanyBacks up: habitat, native or invasive status
  14. Bulletin #4180, Vegetables and Fruits for Health: Greens University of Maine Cooperative ExtensionBacks up: keeping
  15. Freezing Greens (Including Spinach) National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia)Backs up: keeping
  16. Preserving Greens Penn State ExtensionBacks up: keeping
  17. Herbs (Drying) National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia)Backs up: keeping
  18. USDA PLANTS Database: Galinsoga quadriradiata (GAQU), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  19. USDA PLANTS Database: Galinsoga parviflora (GAPA2), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  20. Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective date: September 2024) Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural HeritageBacks up: native or invasive status
  21. Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations (Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List, updated January 2026; additions effective July 15, 2026; 'Next Plants To Be Assessed' 2026-2027) Maryland Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection & Weed ManagementBacks up: native or invasive status
  22. Non-Native Invasive Terrestrial Plant Species in the State of Maryland (updates approved through the April 18, 2024 MISC meeting) Maryland Invasive Species CouncilBacks up: native or invasive status
  23. Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide (Swearingen & Fulton, 2022; successor to the NPS/USFWS 5th ed., 2017) Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council / Passiflora Press (hosted by Bugwood/Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool)Backs up: native or invasive status
  24. Invasive Plants in the District DC Department of Energy & EnvironmentBacks up: native or invasive status
  25. Galinsoga quadriradiata (Weeds by Flower Color: White) University of Florida IFAS, Mid-Florida Research & Education CenterBacks up: safety
  26. Galinsoga parviflora (Cav.): A review (Ali, Zameer & Yaqoob, Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 16(12), 2017) Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research (University of Benin)Backs up: safety
  27. Galinsoga parviflora (Cav.): A comprehensive review on ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological studies (Ripanda et al., Heliyon 9(2), 2023) Heliyon, via PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine)Backs up: safety
  28. Screening of a new cadmium hyperaccumulator, Galinsoga parviflora, from winter farmland weeds (Lin et al., Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 33(11), 2014), abstract Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), abstract via PubMed (NCBI E-utilities)Backs up: safety
  29. Cadmium Accumulation Characteristics of Four Herbs (Chen et al., Huan Jing Ke Xue 42(2), 2021), English abstract Huan Jing Ke Xue (Environmental Science, China), abstract via PubMed (NCBI E-utilities)Backs up: safety
  30. Tridax procumbens (Weeds by Flower Color: White) University of Florida IFAS, Mid-Florida Research & Education CenterBacks up: safety, safety details
  31. Acalypha virginica (Virginia Copperleaf) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety, safety details
  32. FS1348: Hairy Galinsoga Life Cycle Disruptions for Effective Control in No- and Low-Spray Specialty Crops (Melendez & Besancon) Rutgers Cooperative Extension (New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station)Backs up: season
  33. Research-grade observations of shaggy soldier and smooth galinsoga (Galinsoga quadriradiata, G. parviflora) within 25 km of DC, by month (all observations) iNaturalistBacks up: season
  34. Research-grade observations of shaggy soldier and smooth galinsoga within 25 km of DC, by week of the year (all observations) iNaturalistBacks up: season