Florida betony is a very common cool season perennial weed in the southeast. In north Florida, it starts to show up in lawns in September and October. In central and south Florida, you will start to see it in November and December. In both areas, it will be around until the summer when it will start to die back. One way to ID Florida Betony is by the leaves, which have an opposite leaf arrangement – coming out on opposite sides of the stem. The leaves are also serrated (or have ‘teeth’). Florida betony is in the mint family and has square stems. If you roll a stem in your fingers, you can feel it has four sides. Florida betony spreads primarily via rhizomes that look like the rattle of a rattlesnake – so much so that rattlesnake weed is one of its common names. Quite adaptable, it can be found in lawns, gardens, fields, and planting beds that are wet or dry, sunny or shady. As with most weeds, proper lawn maintenance will help keep outbreaks in check. For small areas, hand pulling can work if you remove the entire rhizome and tubers. Pre emergence herbicides are not going to be very effective as it spreads vegetatively, so management will usually require post emergent herbicides.

For more info: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP597

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