Here’s a news release from Corvallis that drifted across my desk a few weeks ago:
A new guide to the Pacific Northwest’s most dominant or potentially invasive weeds has been published by the Oregon State University Extension Service. “Invasive Weed Identification and Management (Pacific Northwest’s Least Wanted List)” is a 44-page guide, written by OSU Extension weed specialist Jed Colquhoun.
The pernicious plant invaders covered in the guide include species rampant on both sides of the Cascades, including: Scotch broom, English ivy, false brome, kudzu, purple loosestrife, yellow starthistle, toadflax, Canada thistle, knapweed and more than 30 others.
The guide provides color photos of each species, lists identifying characteristics, origin, habitat, ecology and gives several choices for control strategies, including physical removal, biological control, burning and herbicides.
“Invasive Weed Identification and Management,” EC 1563, is available by mail for $5 per copy plus $3 shipping and handling. Send your request and check or money order payable to OSU to: Publication Orders, Extension and Station Communications, 422 Kerr Administration, OSU, Corvallis, OR 97331-2119.
To preview this publication and more than 100 others published by the OSU Extension Service on invasive weeds in the Pacific Northwest, visit OSU Extension and Experiment Station Communications website at: http://eesc.oregonstate.edu. Click on “Publications and Videos,” then “Agriculture” and then “Weeds.”
I got my copy of the guide in the mail last week and found info on several familiar faces from the canyon, including English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, Japanese knotweed, and a range of thistles. Biggest surprise: Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which blankets the lower canyon, made the list of top invaders. Second biggest surprise: Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), which is spreading in the community gardens, didn’t make the list of top invaders.
I’d trade a patch of bindweed for a patch of garlic mustard any day.
– posted by Niels
