I think you are on the right track. I have a very similar weed, which is an Artemesia but I forget the last name. It is commonly called Biennial Wormweed or Wormwood. Mine doesn't normally have as many or such large leaves coming out of the seed stalk, but otherwise looks identical. The plant carries a distinctive scent, although I find it hard to describe. Maybe some elements of marigolds and some of sagebrush. It grows on disturbed ground. It germinates in the fall and forms a rosette, then takes off in the spring, usually looking like nothing more than a pin head in the spring when it starts to grow. It will also germinate during the growing season and grow, but just forms a rosette until the next year. You can control it easily in the fall with tillage or herbicides. In the early spring, tillage will also work easily, but herbicides rapidly lose effectiveness as it gets bigger although glyphosate will continue to work. Pulling a plant of the size you've got will be difficult unless the soil is very wet. The lower stem will be like wood.

So, a bit of a follow up. I went for a walk this morning, first time in a long time, and observed the roadside plants. There IS ragweed there, although it is greatly outnumbered by goldenrod in particular, and other things. Actually, it's kind of overwhelming how many other things lol. Bittersweet, poison ivy, japanese knotweed, garlic mustard, grasses, grapevine, wild raspberry(?), virginia creeper, sassafras, and lots of other stuff I can't identify. Anyway, two things I noted about the ragweed. It's not nearly as tall as the stuff that was in my garden. In some spots I think this is because the city comes and mows down some of the roadside stuff every so often. But in other spots they don't, so not sure why it's shorter there. Also, I was kind of surprised at how close to the asphalt the ragweed was growing. It was anywhere from literally on the edge (if the road was another inch wider the ragweed would be buried) to about 12 inches in. No further back than that. I wondered if it likes the heat and more sun closer to the road. I could start a new thread for the following but its not that important. Just thought I'd throw this out there. Anyone know what this is? It's about six feet tall. Sorry, didn't get a close-up of the buds This was kind of nice to see - although I guess from what little I know of RoS, they are aggressive if not invasive so maybe not so nice Is this some kind of milkweed, or maybe joe pye weed? Lastly, in the vein of how things take over, this used to be a field, with a small tree in the center. It always reminded me of a photo of a Civil War battlefield. It amazes me how overgrown it is and how QUICKLY it became overgrown, in just a few years. It's so full one can't even get a sense of how big this field is now. I took it from two angles trying to show it. The tree is gone - I think it was completely broken down by the growth covering it. The road I stood on slopes down to a ditch, and there is a stone wall, believe it or not, which is totally covered by the grapevine along the bottom of the photo. I don't even know much of what's in here, other than some sassafras, tons of grapevine, and some jewelweed. Darn, the mention of the jewelweed made me realize I accidentally deleted the best photo - one of some jewelweed and I think what is helianthus tuberosus. Love these little yellow blooms and love to see them along the road. I'll have to get another photo. :) Dee

This thread is too damn funny!! Growing up on the farm, we had many of these "weeds". My Mom used to water them with powdered milk. Hungriest damn things.... ;-) Strangely, Mom was so fond of an older stray "Mama" that blew into our farm! She had part of an ear/leaf missing. This one was particularly gentle. One day, Mom discovered it curled-up in her clothespin pail!! She was outside to hang up clothes, reached into the bucket & felt something soft. We had to take a picture of it. Probably one of my favorite pictures from my younger days!! Faron

^^^ And I'm thinking he's right!! 😊