term of the day: basal growth

When a plant grows with all it's stems/leaves/flowers from one central point it's said to have a basal growth habit. The design is simple and evolved and very smart, the plant getting all the sun it needs while the roots are running deep below following the vital and limited water source. It stays low to the ground and compact, able to withstand wind and weather and the occasional predator. If they sustain some damage, so be it, they regenerate and grow tougher. You find that many weeds that have adapted to survive in such rough conditions over the eons are often basal growers and form basal rosette's, the perfect example probably being your common dandelion. Even your local unnamed weeds can teach you something very interesting about survival if you open up your thinking a little bit. I love that about adaptation and natural selection, real lessons in tenacity.

Weed ID: Ranunculus ficaria

Ranunculus ficaria is known as the common buttercup or lesser celandine. These annoying little weeds come from temperate Eurasia and North Africa and come up as a spring ephemeral so you can miss them. If you see them get them now before they flower their little solitary yellow flowers and disappear.
An invasive perennial weed Ranunculus ficaria has heart-shaped leaves and smooth leaf margins (edges). The leaves might have a little white mottling in them, and are only an inch or so in diameter.
They grow in clumps anywhere from 1" to a few square feet. They are shallow-rooted and spread thanks to tons of little bulbs and bulblets. The bulbs are a very helpful ID characteristic in the spring garden.
Because of how many bulblets the plant can make remove the plant in its entirety and try not to shake them. Put them right into plastic bags in the garbage, do not add to your compost pile!

Weed ID: Alliaria petiolata

Alliaria petiolata is better known as garlic mustard, a terrible invasive biennial. It is a member of the mustard family, Brassicaceae, and is edible. Some of my cute conservation friends like to make garlic mustard pesto. I find the greens to be a bit too bitter by the time I finally get them out of the garden.
The basal rosette of foliage wth pronouned venation and toothed foliage is what you are looking for. They will flower spring and summer, and set seed very quickly, so you want to get them out now before they have a chance.
You will find them to have fibrous roots and a big tap root so be sure to use a weeding knife that is at least 6" long and try and get every part of the plant out of the ground.
Black bag these weeds and garbage them, do not add them to your compost pile!

By the way these might also look a tiny bit like the Viola weed that is out right now, actually the Viola could almost look like a cross of the garlic mustard and lesser celandine (if that was possible), with its little heart-shaped leaves and serrated leaf margins, and little solitary viola flowers white and purple. Go ahead and get rid of them while you are at it. Sorry I don't have a pic of the Viola specifically but if you look at the first three pics above there is a little viola in the lower left-hand corner.