Edit: The weed lobby is alive and well in the comments! Just kidding. Appreciate the responses.
But my question still sort of stands. Take away the pejorative label “weed”—what allows these plants to perform better than the other ones?
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Adaptation.
Many “weeds” are ruderal, meaning they are the first to grow in an area that has undergone some change or disruption- after a fire for example.
They utilize the environment timing and conditions at optimum levels to grow and to reproduce quickly, before larger or more invasive plants can grow and crowd them out.
Many plants that are considered weeds have adapted to low fertility soils, like dandelions. So when your lawn gets weak and needs more inputs like nutrients and water, dandelions can take advantage of the condition of the soil and quickly grow bloom and spread seed.
A quick spreading weed is described as being invasive, where it competes with other plants for light and water, but can overtake other species, by covering it or taking over root space and weakening the health of the desirable plant.
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