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Weeds
Latin Name: Eichhornia Crassipes
Common Name: Water Hyacinth
Other Names: Pickerel-weed, floating water hyacinth
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Latin America, and thought to have been introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant. Now present throughout the milder climates of the U.S., from Florida to California, where it can be a severe problem in navigable waterways and irrigation canals, where its thick, smothering growth obstructs movement and water flow.
Biology:
A floating perennial weed that usually reproduces vegetatively from stolons growing off the parent plant. New plants easily separate with disturbance or physical damage. Reproduction may also be from seeds that fall to the bottom of the aquatic habitat, and may remain there in a dormant state through dry periods, germinating once water is available again. Water hyacinth tends to grow mat-like, eventually covering the water completely over
Latin Name: Trifolium Repens
Common Name: White Clover
Other Names: Dutch clover, honeysuckle clover, white trefoil, purplewort
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe, but introduced as an ornamental and forage plant, and now found commonly throughout North America. It is a weed in turf grasses and landscape, as well as in many crop settings. It tolerates close mowing and becomes a problem by outcompeting the turf.
Biology:
A perennial, mat-forming plant with creeping stems that root at the nodes. Reproduction is by seeds or by stolons, and the seeds are able to survive long periods prior to germination. Seeds begin to germinate in cool, moist conditions such as spring or early fall. Foliage dies back in cold winter weather, with re-growth from the roots and stolons.
Identification:
Mature plants may get over 6 inches high in ideal conditions where they are not mowed, but tend to grow prostrate along the ground.
Latin Name: Polygonum Convolvulus
Common Name: Wild Buckwheat
Other Names: Knot bindweed, bear bind, ivy bindweed, climbing bindweed, corn-bind, climbing buckwheat, black bindweed.
Pest Details
Origin:
Introduced from Europe, and now widespread throughout the United States and southern Canada.
Biology:
An annual broadleaf plant, growing as a fast-growing vine either along the ground or up onto other plants. Its dense growth and strangling habit can be harmful to other plants. A common weed in all kinds of crops, landscape gardens, and non-crop areas. Propagation is from seed, and germination is from mid-spring into early summer.
Identification:
Mature plants extend trailing stems up to 4 feet long. Stems are well branched, hairless, but covered with scales. Leaves are alternate on the stems and internodes are long. Leaves are on long stalks, arrow-head shaped, and may be up to 2.5 inches long.
Latin Name: Daucus Carota
Common Name: Wild Carrot
Other Names: Queen Anne’s lace, bird’s nest plant, devil’s plague.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe and introduced as a garden plant. It escaped cultivation and is now a common and problem weed throughout North America.
Biology:
A biennial that reproduces by seed. Seeds germinate in the spring to form a rosette of basal leaves the first year. In the second year long seed stalks arise from the rosette, branching frequently as they grow. Foliage dies by the second winter, but flower stalks remain standing. This plant is discouraged by annual cultivation of the soil, and is less of a problem in annual crops or landscape than in areas where the soil is not disturbed.
Identification:
Mature plants can be over 3 feet tall, and foliage and stems have a distinct carrot odor when crushed. Stems are erect, hollow, and with vertical raised ribs along them. Stems are
Latin Name: Brassica Kaber
Common Name: Wild Mustard
Other Names: Field mustard, charlock, field kale, kedlock, common mustard.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Eurasia, and now found throughout the United States.
Biology:
Normally a winter annual, although it will grow as a summer annual in the proper wet conditions. Reproduction is by seeds that germinate in late summer, early fall, or in the spring. Seeds may remain viable in the soil for many years, with over a thousand seeds possible from a single plant.
Identification:
Mature plants have two forms - those with hairy, prickly stems and those with smooth stems. The plants grow to as tall as 3 feet, with multiple, branching erect stems. Leaves can be 8 inches long and thickly clustered around the base. Leaves on the lower stems are deeply lobed at the base and have long petioles, while upper leaves are simple and generally without stems or petioles.
Latin Name: Raphanus Sativus
Common Name: Wild Radish
Other Names: Jointed charlock, white charlock, jointed radish, wild kale, wild turnip, cadlock, wild mustard.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe, and now widespread in North America. The garden variety of radish is a cultivated form of wild radish. R. sativus is white-flowered, while R. raphanistrum is yellow-flowered.
Biology:
These are winter or summer annual, and under the proper growing conditions may be biennials. They reproduce only from seeds, and seeds are capable of germinating in either early spring or early autumn. Those seeds that germinate in the fall produce rosettes of leaves at the ground level, and these rosettes over-winter.
Identification:
Plants begin as a rosette of large, deeply divided leaves. Mature plants can be as tall as 5 feet, and are heavily branched toward the top of the plant, off of the main stem. Leaves vary widely
Latin Name: Panicum Capillare
Common Name: Witchgrass
Other Names: Food hay, mousseline, panic grass, tickle grass, tumble panic, tumbleweed grass, witches’ hair, old witch grass, fool hay
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to the eastern United States, and now common throughout the U.S. and southern Canada.
Biology:
A bushy, shallow-rooted summer annual. A problem in crops and orchards, particularly in sandy soil, as well as in landscape and nurseries. Reproduction is by seeds, with germination in early-spring into early summer. Plants mature throughout the summer, and when the flower heads dry they become brittle and break off to blow away in the wind, giving them one of their common names.
Identification:
Mature plants are bushy, with many branches from the base, and may grow to about 2 feet in height. Stems, sheaths, and leaves all are covered with long, coarse hairs. Leaves may reach around 10 inches long and have
Latin Name: Setaria Glauca
Common Name: Yellow Foxtail
Other Names: Foxtail millet, pigeon grass, summer grass, golden foxtail, wild millet, pussy-grass, bottle grass, yellow bristlegrass
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Eurasia, but an important weed species in cultivated areas throughout the world, including much of the United States.
Biology:
A summer annual grass weed, growing in erect clumps up to 3 feet tall. Reproduction is from seeds, and germination is from late spring through midsummer.
Identification:
Mature plants have fibrous roots, and will not root at stem nodes that rest on the ground. However, tillage of the roots will cause new growth from the base of the plant. Leaves may be 12 inches long, up to 1/2 inch wide, and have long hairs on the upper surface, only at the base area. The sheath is smooth and often reddish at the base, with a distinct midvein. Flower head forms mid to late summer as a
Latin Name: Cyperus Esculentus
Common Name: Yellow Nutsedge
Other Names: Nut-grass, yellow nut-grass, nut sedge, northern nut-grass, chufa, earth almond, rush nut, ground almond
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to the Old World, but now spread throughout the world, including all of the United States, much of Canada, and south through the tropical areas of South America. It is one of the most important weed pests in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.
Biology:
A perennial weed that reproduces by seeds, but also commonly by tubers that form at the ends of rhizomes. Plants also can spread by these rhizomes, but each plant is capable of producing many hundreds of tubers, making it the principal form of reproduction. Foliage remains green year-round, and leaves closely resemble grasses. This is an extremely common pest of turf, and in turf its own leaves grow far more quickly than the turf blades, creating
Latin Name: Oxalis Stricta
Common Name: Yellow Woodsorrel
Other Names: Sour grass, oxalis.
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Europe but distributed throughout the world.
Biology:
A perennial weed common in turf, landscape, crops, and nurseries. Plants spread by the underground rhizomes as well as from seeds, and seeds are thrown up to 12 feet from the parent plant by the explosive nature of the seed pods.
Identification:
Very similar superficially to Creeping woodsorrel, but plants tend to grow much higher, as tall as 10 inches due to the more upright stems. In addition, yellow woodsorrel has rhizomes while creeping woodsorrel has stolons. Leaves are clover-like, with three heart-shaped leaflets on long stalks. After sunset the leaflets tend to fold down along their stems. Flowers are yellow and may grow in small groups of up to six flowers, each on a long stalk. Flowers are very small but open wide, and have 5 petals. The