Disagreeable Plant--Homage to Giacometti

I was pulling out plants today from the expanse of stones in front of our our porch (on the left of this blip), and this plant struck me--it measured at least 14 inches (36 cm) from top to the end of its roots. I've pulled out several dozens of them over the past few weeks, and I'm sure more are on the way.

It reminded me of Giacometti's surrealist "Objet désagréable à jeter" --"Disagreeable Object to be Thrown Away", from his Surrealist period (1931). I indeed pulled out the plant and threw it away. Aside from my artistic reference, I was impressed by how deeply the roots began--apparentlyat least six inches below the top of the soil, much below any daylight.

Any comments from botanists would be appreciated.