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Latin Name: Tribulus Terrestris
Common Name: Puncture Vine
Other Names: Puncture weed, bullhead, goathead, Mexican sandbur, Texas sandbur, burnut, caltrop, ground burnut, land caltrop
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to the Mediterranean area and southern Europe. Now scattered over much of the U.S.
Biology:
An annual weed, extremely prostrate and mat-forming, spreading out in a circle to 10 feet in diameter. Very shallow but tough taproot. Seeds germinate in early spring, but can remain viable in the soil for 5 years. Plants mature throughout the summer, and may produce copious amounts of seeds. Seeds are spiked and very hard, creating havoc with bicycle tires that easily are punctured.
Identification:
Stems are long, thin, and trailing along the soil, up to 5 feet long. Leaves form on opposite sides of the main stem, are hairy, and are divided into 4 to 8 pairs of leaflets. Flowers are yellow, less than ½ inch wide,
Latin Name: Lythrum Salicaria
Common Name: Purple Loosestrife
Other Names: Purple lythrum, bouquet-violet, European loosestrife, spiked loosestrife
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe, but introduced as an ornamental plant to North America, where it now occurs in nearly every state in the U.S. with the exception of the arid Southwest and the extreme Southeast. It also occurs throughout most of Canada.
Biology:
This is one of North America’s most invasive and noxious weed problems, and is listed as illegal to sell in many states. It is a perennial with a large, tough root system, and plants spread by underground shoots, forming extensive and dense colonies. Reproduction also is by seed, and if plants are fragmented by mowing the stem pieces also can begin new growth. Plants typically grow in moist to marshy habitats along roadsides, banks of waterways and ponds or lakes, pastures or wet disturbed sites, and in
Latin Name: Agropyron Repens
Common Name: Quackgrass
Other Names: Couch grass, devil’s grass, dog grass, quick grass, quitchgrass, shelly grass, twitch grass, wheat grass, whickens, wire grass, witch grass, scutch grass, knot grass
Pest Details
Origin:
Introduced from Europe and now found throughout most of the United States, with the exceptions of the warm southern areas from South Carolina to Arizona.
Biology:
A perennial grass that is a problem in cultivated crops, landscape, and turf, but is a useful forage grass where it grows in non-cultivated pastures. Spreads and reproduces by underground rhizomes, as well as by seeds. Underground rhizomes are damaging to root crops such as potatoes, which they may penetrate as they grow.
Identification:
Very similar to the ryegrasses, but quackgrass has the distinct rhizomes that may extend laterally out to 5 feet, and form a tangled mass. Rhizomes are capable
Latin Name: Trifolium Arvense
Common Name: Rabbitfoot Clover
Other Names: Stone clover, old-field clover, hare’s-foot clover
Pest Details
Origin:
A native of Europe, but introduced to North America where it now occurs throughout the eastern half of the United States, all of southern Canada, and in the western U.S. along the Pacific Coast and in the states bordering Canada. It also occurs in Hawaii.
Biology:
An annual that reproduces from seeds, this weed is a common and invasive plant in disturbed habitats such as roadsides or waste lots, growing well in dry, sandy soils with low nutrient value. It also is a weed in poorly maintained turf.
Identification:
Mature plants form dense colonies that crowd out other low annual plants, growing to as tall as 16 inches in height. Each plant has numerous erect stems arising from the base with frequent branching, and stems and leaves are covered with hairs. Leaves are alternate
Latin Name: Vulpia Myuros
Common Name: Rat-tail Fescue
Other Names: Rat-tail fescue
Pest Details
Origin:
Introduced from Europe, and now found throughout the United States, in southern Canada and Latin America, as well as in Alaska and Hawaii. V. myuros and F. megalura are sometimes separated as two species, but currently combined as only one.
Biology:
An annual grass reproducing from seeds, this troublesome weed is found in many habitats, such as roadsides, ditches, cultivated crops and orchards. It is not a good forage crop for livestock.
Identification:
Mature plants grow to 2 feet tall with narrow, upright stems and very narrow leaves that may tend to droop. The flowering head is a panicle up to 8 inches long, with a flattened, almost fan-like appearance. The spikelets are alternate and are also flattened, each with 4 or 5 flowers on it and with very long awns.
Characteristicts Important
Latin Name: Trifolium Pratense
Common Name: Red Clover
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Eurasia, but introduced as a pasture plant which has escaped cultivation and is now widespread in the United States.
Biology:
A perennial that reproduces by seed. Favors areas that are cool and moist, and commonly grows as a weed in turf.
Identification:
Mature plants can grow up to almost 2 feet in height, as one of the largest common clovers. Stems are erect but fairly weak, and tend to bend as the flower heads grow and add weight. Leaves are divided into 3 elongate-oval leaflets that have the central area lighter than the dark green of the margins. The central leaflet is not on a stalk, and the petiole is fairly short. Flowers are arranged as dark pink to violet flower heads at the end of a long stalk, usually with several leaves around the base of the flowers. The seed pod contains 2
Latin Name: Rumex Acetosella
Common Name: Red Sorrel
Other Names: Sheep sorrel, sour grass, Indian cane, field sorrel, horse sorrel, sour weed, red-top sorrel, cow sorrel, red weed, mountain sorrel.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe, now distributed widely across the United States and southern Canada.
Biology:
A perennial broadleaf plant, with slender, creeping rhizome rootstocks. Foliage usually stays green throughout the year, with some yellowing in the fall possible. Reproduction is from seeds and from the rhizomes, with rhizomes forming new buds in early spring to produce new basal rosettes of leaves.
Identification:
Mature plants generally are low but may grow to 2 feet tall, with somewhat woody stems at the base. Underground structures include a yellow taproot and numerous slender rhizomes. Mature leaves are widely arrow shaped, with 2 wide lobes at the base and a long stem. Leaves form as a rosette
Latin Name: Leptochloa Filiformis
Common Name: Red Sprangletop
Other Names: Clustered saltgrass, loose-flowered sprangletop, raygrass, spreading millet
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to tropical Latin America.
Biology:
A summer annual grass, particularly a problem in wet environments such as ditch banks, rice fields, irrigation canals, or heavily irrigated areas. Seeds germinate in mid-spring and plants mature in late summer.
Identification:
Very similar to two other varieties of Leptochloa: Mexican sprangletop – flower head is very dense and dark colored, spikelets not awned Bearded sprangletop – flower head less dense than Mexican, but not nearly as open and loose as Red, heads dark green turning light green Mature plant forms large clumps that may grow up to 4 feet high. Foliage has no covering of hairs, but the leaf blades and their sheaths are rough to the touch. Leaf blades are up to 1/3 inch wide and up to 20 inches
Latin Name: Amaranthus Retroflexus
Common Name: Redroot Pigweed
Other Names: Pigweed, red root, careless weed, green amaranth, Chinaman’s greens.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to tropical Latin America, but now widespread in the United States.
Biology:
An annual weed reproducing from seeds that germinate in the spring. Flowering occurs in mid-summer with seed production occurring into late fall. Pigweeds contain nitrates that can be toxic to livestock when eaten.
Identification:
Mature plants are very similar to Smooth Pigweed and Powell Amaranth. Differences may be the hairy stems and multiple branching in the upper part of the stem. Leaves have wavy margins and are dull green above and hairy below, at least along the veins. Flowers are produced as green, inconspicuous flowers in large, dense clusters, that are compact rather than longer-branched as with Smooth Pigweed. There also commonly are small flower clusters
Latin Name: Bromus Catharticus
Common Name: Rescuegrass
Other Names: Prairie brome
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to South America, and introduced to the United States for cultivation as a winter forage in the southern states. Strong growth in winter and early spring make it suitable for forage. It commonly escapes cultivated areas and becomes troublesome in crops or non-crop situations.
Biology:
An annual, or short-lived perennial. Seeds germinate in late fall and early winter, and plants mature from mid-spring into early summer. Even if grazed in the winter the plants continue to add foliage into the summer.
Identification:
Mature plants are erect, up to 3 feet tall, possibly with numerous stems arising from the same root stock. Leaf blades are up to ½ inch wide and up to 12 inches long, with a rough to sparsely hairy feel to them. The flower head is somewhat open, up to 8 inches long, and is composed of around