Definition of "ironweed" [i•ron•weed]

• Any of various plants of the genus Vernonia, having alternate leaves and clusters of purplish flower heads. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Your ironweed was a monster last year, too cool You are very observant, that is a death grip on that child’s shirt."
• "The itty bitty teeny weeny seedlings are ironweed babies, Vernonia gigantea? that were discovered at the end of the knot garden just this week."
• "Now the ironweed is not sold either, but that is because it grows everywhere in open fields, considered a large weed by most."