We use cookies to make your experience better. To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
Articles
- Latin Name: Senecio Spartioides
- Latin Family Name: Asteraceae
- Common Name: Broom Groundsel
- Other Names: Broom-like Ragwort
Origin:
Native to the western United States.
Biology:
A perennial plant that will grow large and shrub-like. There is a strong taproot and the crown of the plant is woody. Plants are most common on sandy, well-drained sites. Plant tissues are poisonous to livestock, containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause toxicity to the liver.
Identification:
Mature plants grow almost 4 feet tall, with a primary stem that branches many times along its upper length. The leaves are thin and very long, and they are not divided, which distinguishes this species from Riddell groundsel, which has divided leaves. Leaves are smooth. Flowers occur in dense clusters at the ends of the many stems, appearing
- Latin Name: Plantago Lanceolata
- Latin Family Name: Plantaginaceae
- Common Name: Buckhorn Plantain
- Other Names: English plantain, narrowleaf plantain, rib-grass, ribwort, black-jacks, buck plantain, blue-jacks, black plantain, ribbed plantain, ribwort plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, buckhorn
Origin:
Introduced from Europe, and now found throughout the United States and Canada.
Biology:
A short-lived perennial or sometimes a biennial. Buckhorn plantain is a common weed problem in waste areas, turf, landscape, many crop situations, and moist areas. It is tolerant of dry, compacted soils and is able to adapt to close mowing of turf. Reproduction is from seeds as well as re-growth of shoots from the base of the parent plant. Seeds can germinate and seedlings can survive even in dense, well maintained turf. This is one of the host food
- Latin Name: Cardamine Bulbosa
- Latin Family Name: Brassicaceae
- Common Name: Bulbous Bittercress
- Other Names: Spring cress
Origin:
Native to North America, and found in nearly every state east of the Rocky Mountains.
Biology:
A perennial plant that reproduces from seeds, this plant can be found in moist soils in waste areas, disturbed sites, along roadsides, and in landscapes. Plants are edible and may be used to impart a peppery flavor to foods.
Identification:
Mature plants are upright with many stems arising from the base, and short branches off the main stems. Plants can be nearly 2 feet in height, and with a bulbous rootstock. Basal leaves tend to be on short stalks while upper leaves are sessile. The stem is thick but hollow, and shows lighter colored veins along its length. Leaves are lance-shaped
- Latin Name: Symphyotrichum dumosum (formerly Aster dumosus)
- Latin Family Name: Asteraceae
- Common Name: Bushy Aster
- Other Names: Rice button aster
Origin:
Native to North America, and found throughout the entire eastern half of the United States, west to Texas.
Biology:
A perennial weed that reproduces from seeds and spreads with an extensive system of rhizomes. Plants grow generally upright to sprawling, and may be bushy or may adapt to mowing and stay low to the soil. This is a common weed in poorly maintained turf, along roadsides, in waste areas and other disturbed sites.
Identification:
Mature plants can grow to 2 feet in height or have more prostrate stems in mowed areas. Extensive branching gives it a bushy appearance, and stems are wiry. Leaves are alternate, narrow and elongate, with smooth margins.
- Latin Name: Medicago Polymorpha
- Latin Family Name: Fabaceae
- Common Name: Burclover
- Other Names: Medic, California burclover, toothed burclover, toothed medick, burr medic
Origin:
Native to Eurasia, and now widespread in the western United States.
Biology:
An annual or short-lived perennial that reproduces by seed. It was introduced as a forage crop in range pasture, but it also is a problem weed in cultivated crops, turf, and landscape. Its spiny seed balls are a major health problem for long-haired pets or livestock, such as sheep.
Identification:
Very similar to Black Medic, but differs by the presence of the spiny seed pods and its more trailing habit. Mature plants trail along the ground, with the tips sometimes ascending or growing up into landscape foliage. Stems may grow to 2 feet in length and
- Latin Name: Spermacoce Assurgens
- Latin Family Name: Rubiaceae
- Common Name: Bushy Buttonweed
- Other Names: Woodland false buttonweed
Origin:
Found in warm, humid climates of most continents, as well as Hawaii, the West Indies, and from Florida to Louisiana. Considered a native in the U.S., but also found throughout Latin America and in Asia.
Biology:
An annual weed reproducing from seeds. Plants flower throughout the warm months. These are many-branched weeds with thin, weak stems that tend to grow prostrate along the ground or through turf, making them tolerant of low-mowing and difficult to remove physically.
Identification:
Stems are thin and potentially very long, with few or no hairs on them. Leaves are opposite and are elongate oval with sharply pointed tips and a sharp base on a short petiole. The
- Latin Name: Geranium carolinianum
- Latin Family Name: Geraniaceae
- Common Name: Carolina Geranium
- Other Names: Crane's-bill, Carolina crane's-bill, wild geranium
Origin:
Native to the United States, and widely distributed in the United States.
Biology:
Usually an annual broadleaf, occasionally a biennial. Found in most soil situations – roadsides, ditchbanks, turf and landscape, waste areas, and in crops. Seeds germinate early to late spring and plants mature from summer to fall.
Identification:
Mature plant may be over 2 feet tall and with many branches coming out of a central point. Most often stems spread on the ground and curve upward. Leaves are oval or circular, but deeply lobed, and each lobe is again toothed or lobed. Flowers are generally in pairs on short stalks, with tiny pink petals.
- Latin Name: Axonopus Affinis
- Latin Family Name: Poaceae
- Common Name: Carpetgrass
- Other Names: N/A
Origin:
Found throughout the world in mild climates, and in the U.S. in the eastern half of the country.
Biology:
A perennial grass which reproduces by either seeds or stolons, and which is capable of forming thick stands over open soils, and a noticeable presence in turf. It may even be used deliberately in combination with other grass varieties where soil retention is needed in unmaintained areas.
Identification:
Leaf blades are smooth on both upper and lower surfaces, but there are a few hairs on the margin of the sheath at the base of the leaf, and the nodes on the stems are densely hairy. The leaf blades are wide, with the tip of the blade distinctly rounded. Seed heads are similar to crabgrass, with
- Latin Name: Mollugo Verticillata
- Latin Family Name: Molluginaceae
- Common Name: Carpetweed
- Other Names: Indian chickweed
Origin:
Native to tropical America, now distributed widely in the U.S.
Biology:
Mature plant is well branched, and forms a mat on the soil surface that may reach a diameter of 20 inches. In landscape plantings the stems may twine up and over the tops of other plants. Seeds germinate in late spring and the plant matures in late summer.
Identification:
Generally low-growing and mat-forming, with thin, multi-branching stems. Leaves occur in whorls around the stem, in groups of 3 to 6 leaves, with tiny white flowers occurring in the axils of the leaves. Leaves are thin and up to 1 inch long, narrowly spatulate shaped. Flowers are small and inconspicuous, blooming from mid-summmer to fall,
- Latin Name: Galium Aparine
- Latin Family Name: Rubiaceae
- Common Name: Catchweed Bedstraw
- Other Names: Cleavers, bedstraw, catchweed, goose-grass, scratch-grass, grip-grass
Origin:
Native to North America and widespread across the continent.
Biology:
Either a summer or winter annual, depending on the climate it occurs in. It is a climbing, mat-forming broadleaf that is able to attach to other plants by means of its short prickly hairs that cover the stems and leaves. Reproduction is by seeds that will germinate at any time of the year except winter, in cool, moist conditions.
Identification:
Mat forming and vinelike as it grows, often covering other plants with its dense systems of stems. Stems are square and with prickles on the ridges and the leaves, allowing it to cling to other plants. Leaves are hairy