Plant ID

I may have sprayed some roundup in that area to keep the weeds from encroaching from the woods. There are however no other dead plants around this one to indicate that. a second one has come up in another part of the yard. It is not as pink.

It sure is interesting.
We guess that the thick taproot of an older native perennial pokeweed could store enough energy to push up some growth. This plant has no green tissue/chlorophyll to sustain itself though and can't continue to live.

If you want to send a photo of the other one, feel free and we'll take a look.
This is what pokeweed normally looks like:
http://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/pokeweed

Christine

Here are some updated photos of the original plant and some of the new one (has some green)

Yes, we think this is pokeweed, a native weed that is good for wildlife.

Some herbicides cause leaf distortion and stem distortion, and that is why it looks so odd.

We noticed in the center photo that there is wavyleaf basketgrass on the left. It's very low and has wavy leaves. This is a super aggressive foreign invasive plant. We'd recommend that you carefully remove all of it from the entire area. Never let it go to seed. It's a sneaky plant that does not stand out, but it will move like wildfire through a park, forest or landscape, smothering and crowding out native plants that our native wildlife need to survive.
Here's more: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/wavyleaf-basketgrass

Ellen