https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/361353419
I came home recently and saw this plant in the same place I observed mistflower last year, first with flowers, later having gone to seed. At some time in the winter, there was nothing left above ground of it. Wikipedia says it’s perennial. I marked it same individual over time, is this correct?
You could dig it up to check the roots. Does it have the robust roots of a perennial or the new smallish roots of an annual?
I thought maybe my mistflower had reseeded but I pulled out some of the new shoots and the roots were bigger than they would have been if they were new plants, and they were all leading towards the center of last year’s growth. I think this is probably the case but you can check for yourself. Also, none of them ever had cotyledons of a newly germinated plant.
Many, many perennial non-woody plants are perennial by underground parts (roots, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers). They let the above-ground parts die back when not needed.