Juda's bush, Iresine rhizomatosa

Juda's bush is a large herb, close to a meter tall. It's a eye catcher more for it's size and shape than for it's actual flowers. And when it goes to seed, as it is just starting to do here, it becomes an amazing tower of fuzz. Juda's bush grows mostly in alluvial soils and along our coasts. Either way it is rooting in loose, often sandy soil assiciated with modern or past waterways. It grows in AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, OK PA, SC, TN, TX, and VA. Brevard Co FL, 1/27/13. Amaranth family, Amaranthaceae.