If you read the post before this one, you already know what the delay was all about. But here it is at last, a terse weedy post providing mug shots, names, (common and botanical), hangouts, how each makes more of itself, and any other pertinent information for a dozen more usual suspects flourishing at this time of year. Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
Some terminology notes: basal means “at base, at the bottom”; leguminous means “a plant with nitrogen-fixing root nodes, a member of the pea family”; stolons are runners that travel aboveground; rhizomes are runners that travel below ground.
We begin with six perennial offenders.Dog fennel, Eupatorium capillifolium
Sunny natural areas and lawns
Seeds, suckers and regrows from a woody base (sheesh!)
Roots hard to pull out on established plants
Rather pretty, with aromatic ferny foliage, reminiscent of asparagus
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| Dog fennel, just getting started in your lawn |
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| Dog fennel, all grown up |
Fleabane, Erigeron quercifolius
Lawns, areas of dappled to part shade
Seeds
Leaves pull off easily; roots are another matter
Little white to pinkish daisy flowers
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| Fleabane, growing where it's not wanted |
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| Pretty, pernicious fleabane |
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| Buckhorn plantain (not the banana) |
Buckhorn plantain, Plantago lanceolata
Lawns, road verges
Seeds
Basal rosette of foliage, flowers on bare stalks
Crushed leaves relieve bug-bite itch when rubbed
on the spot
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| Threeflower beggarweed foliage |
Threeflower beggarweed, Desmodium triflorum
Lawns, open natural areas
Seeds and stolons
Mat-forming, taprooted, dark green leaves with three heart-shaped leaflets
Tiny pinky-purple pea-like flowers
Leguminous
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| Narrowleaf vetch |
Narrowleaf vetch, Vicia sativus subsp. nigra, V. angustifolius
Lawns, natural areas, fields
Seeds
Compound leaves with three to nine pairs of leaflets, lax to ascending habit
Little pinky-purple pea-like flowers
Leguminous
Lawns, natural areas, fields
Seeds
Compound leaves with three to nine pairs of leaflets, lax to ascending habit
Little pinky-purple pea-like flowers
Leguminous
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| The mystery weed |
Lawns, road verges, dry natural areas
Seeds
Linear leaves whorled around an upright stem, flowering structure
branching from the top like a candelabra, producing numerous tiny white blooms
branching from the top like a candelabra, producing numerous tiny white blooms
Easy to pull
Now let’s look at a few grass-like weeds.
Bahiagrass, Paspalum notatum
Lawns, playing fields, disturbed places
Seeds and rhizomes
Mat-forming warm-season grass, may be mistaken for centipede or carpetgrass
Seedheads form a distinctive “V”
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| Bahiagrass (Note characteristic "V" seedheads) |
Bahiagrass, Paspalum notatum
Lawns, playing fields, disturbed places
Seeds and rhizomes
Mat-forming warm-season grass, may be mistaken for centipede or carpetgrass
Seedheads form a distinctive “V”
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| Carpetgrass in Bermudagrass |
Carpetgrass, Axonopus affinis
Lawns, dunes
Seeds and stolons
Looks very much like centipede grass: the giveaway is its runners are above ground instead of underneath
Long runners pull up like a zipper, which is kind of fun; grubbing out the roots is another matter
Large and Southern crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis, D. ciliaris
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| Your basic crabgrass |
Sunny lawns, natural areas, road verges, disturbed places
Seeds and stolons
Aggressive annual, tufted or prostrate in habit
Seed spikelets have two to nine branches
Sand spur, Cenchrus echinatus
Lawns, dunes, road verges, disturbed places
Seed
Wicked annual, with branching blades emanating from a central, reddish-purplish hub
Seed a spiny bur, with barbed spines that hang on like grim death
If you (or your dog) ever stepped on one, you’d know it
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| The purplish basal hub of sandspur |
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| The business end of a sandspur |
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| The seedhead of globe sedge |
Globe sedge, Cyparus globosus
Lawns, natural areas, disturbed places
Seed
Perennial with smooth, shiny, bright green blades
Seedhead resembles an exploding green firework
Hard to eradicate
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| Horrid purple nutsedge, purplish stems, little brown tubers, rhizomes and all |
Purple nutsedge, Cyparus rotundus
Lawns, planting beds, disturbed areas, everywhere
Tubers and rhizomes
Aggressive upright perennial grass with distinctive channel the
length of the blade; bases purplish
Little brown hard tubers linked by rhizomes
Really hard to eradicate, as pulling it just seems to piss it off
Well, whew. Not perfect, having an indention problem, but not too bad. Google's feeling better now, and so am I. Weedy vines and wildflowers next time.
Thanks for dropping by, and for your forbearance.
Kathy
