Which weed forms a large rosette with reddish leaves and crinkled edges and does not usually flower when growing in lawns?

• A. Curly Dock
• B. Goosegrass
• C. Shepherdspurse
• D. Annual Bluegrass

Answer: (A)

When identifying lawn weeds, growth form and leaf texture are key clues. Curly dock forms a large rosette of broad, lance-shaped leaves with wavy or crinkled (crinkled) edges, and those leaves often have a reddish or purplish tint. This combination—a big, low rosette plus reddish, crinkled leaves—is characteristic of curly dock, especially in a lawn where mowing prevents the plant from sending up a tall flowering stalk, so it usually won’t bloom there.

The other weeds don’t match this distinctive look. Goosegrass is a grassy weed that makes a flat or matted patch rather than a broad rosette of reddish, crinkled leaves. Shepherd’s purse can start as a rosette, but its leaves are typically more lobed and not the reddish, crinkled type seen with curly dock, and it tends to bolt and set seed earlier. Annual bluegrass is also a grass weed and lacks the broad, reddish, crinkled-leaf rosette pattern.