Apart from USDA zone where is this plant being seen?

Four, can you give us another photo with something for scale so we can get a better idea of it's true size? Car keys or something. Pots come in all different sizes.

I did at first consider including the requested informations. However, I deemed them diversionary, given that : 1) the seed came from elsewhere; 2) I do not know whether pictured size is at 3% or 100% or 50% etc of potential.

Possibly useful to know that this 45degree angle view shows the height well : plant indeed is compact, squat. A few inches tall in photo, taken two days ago..

Central FL. One-gal pot.

The requested information isn’t diversionary. We couldn't tell what size the leaves of your plant are. Location also matters. We didn't even know what country you’re in. Even if the seed came from elsewhere it could only germinate and grow in suitable conditions. So knowing your climate is important. Every detail you can supply is useful. Scent, texture and season in which the picture was taken are handy too.

A picture when the leaves are completely dry would also be most helpful. Trying to get a handle on true leaf texture is difficult and the wet leaves make the pubescence difficult to judge. True that state and country should always be given since this site is international.

Leaves are dry, glabrous, to the unaided eye. Moisture and pubescence under magnification. I will take photo tomorrow.

A shot of a leaf underside would also help

Above, in original posting, is where I added the photos.

Looking for opinions. The only thing I can match the leaf with is Dahlia, but I'm not seeing any compound leaves. Could it be this plant is too young to have developed them yet? The photo quality makes it difficult to see the exact texture of the stems, whether they're smooth or not. I keep thinking maybe Asteraceae, but not sure.

> "stems" _ _ Plural. Petioles? Plant has one stem. I did not try to get good photos of either. I will report on smoothness of both.

Report : I am inclined to say smooth, unless you tell me that my seeing sparse hairs under 30x glass means that they are not smooth.

Not a Dahlia imo. Too much pubescence. But it does look like Asteraceae. Maybe some sort of fleabane. The new stem looks as if it’s going to flower.

I agree about fleabane.

Later: Found it!

E. annus (if the source, U. of Mass. Extension, correctly identified it).

E. anuus looks close also. I grow pulchellus. ?

Erigeron anuus
Erigeron anuus The leaves on my pulchellus look like this. They spread by having pups, similar to Pilosella aurantiaca. The reason featured plant didn't jump out at me as pulchellus.

Multiple stems now.

Not long to wait now, by the look of it. Are there flower buds visible yet?

No flower buds, instead new leaves emerging there.

Seems to me that the tall stem's leaves do not conform to the characteristic narrower stem leaves of Erigeron.

Freshly well-mangled leaf has nearly no aroma.

I always shoot photos positioned with sun behind me. Camera sure likes to contrast, doesn't it. In last photo, the glare is reflection off the distant, very dark and weathered, wooden fence!

Leaves are shown very well in photos at beginning of thread.

And breathe ......

Four, if you could post again when it flowers we’ll have more to work with. I’d be interested in getting to the bottom of this puzzle.

Of course. And before then, I will take and post the planned more photos.

Four. These are much better pictures, thank you! I'm sorry for being so harsh with you earlier. I hope we can still be friends. I still can't work out what this plant is, even with these photos. My google lens says Pluchea indica, Senecio divaricatus and a Gynura species. None of those seem like a match. Also suggested was Helianthus anuus and a Blumea species, but I don't think they fit either. Blumea would have a turpentine like smell, and I don't think it occurs in Florida. We may just have to wait until it blooms to get a better lead.

Remember that it probably is a migrant.

Where did the seeds come from, and what were they supposed to be?

I keep thinking genus Pluchea, even keeping P. odorata open, yet have not found photos of Pluchea leaves that look like mine. Maybe when it is older the leaves will look more like some that I see in photos.

Report of today's smell test : very briefly pungent, detectable if the mash is nearly inside nose. Sniff again, it's fainter. Third sniff makes me ask where it went. Same experience with second leaf.

Flower buds bolster the thoughts of Pluchea.

Compare to Blumea mollis?

Thanks. Among many photos of it, a few show leaves that very much resemble mine.

I am thinking that the purplebrown of the stems is a feature to be taken into account.

It will be interesting to see when it's in full bloom. Then we should be able to nail it for sure.

Not full in these, but the basic form is established,

Hi four. It's been 3 days. This is a toss-up between Pluchea indica and Blumea mollis. I think the most revealing clue now would be a really clean photo of the involucres with some flowers opened. The foliage of both species is very similar, one might have more teeth than the other, but it's hard to tell. There's probably other ways to tell them apart, but I have no idea what they would be. Maybe one smells worse than the other??

After finding this photo (labeling mine),

and elsewhere reading this description : "one to several upright stems.... green or purple/brown near the base. Stems and leaves are covered with short glandular hairs that give the plant a soft, velvet feeling", I am decided on P. odorata.

(Both that photo and mine show that the purple/brown is not exclusively near base.)

In this last picture the leaves do look longer like Pluchea odorata. Sounds good to me.