THE WEED

STORY

Prepared and presented by

Carla Bucknor
and
Timon Williamson
 What
Principle 1 – is a Weed
What ?
is a weed?

•A plant growing out of place?

•An undesirable plant?
•Plant with a negative value?
•A pest?
•A plant that competes with other plants and
man for soil?
 What is Good or Bad about
Weeds?
• Bad
• Good
– Compete with
– Some indicate soil cultivated crops
nutrient status causing yield losses
– Increase plant – Out compete native
diversity plants
– Provide good wild – Habitat for insect
life habitat pests and vectors
 WEED MANAGEMENT
• PROACTIVE APPROACH
– Manage vs. Control
– Key aspects
• Why weeds grow
• How weeds grow
• Which weeds species are present
 Life span of weeds
• Annuals
• Produce a seed crop in one year;
• Competitive - succeed in highly unstable
and unpredictable environments (frequent
tillage, drought etc.) as they must make a
seed crop before the next disturbance;
• Seed dormancy
• Long lived seed
• Yield more seed than perennials
 Life span of weeds contd.
• Perennials
• Produce seed crop in excess of one year;
focus is to preserve the parent plant and
produce seed for future generations
• Competitive - more stable environs
• Perennating parts – stolons, bulbs, tubers,
rhizomes
• Storage parts – Perennating parts serve as
stored food reserves for rapid re growth
 Morphology of weeds
• Grasses
– Family Gramineae
• Sedges
– Family Cyperaceae; thin triangular stem,
absence of a ligule
• Broadleaves
– Other families of Monocotyledonae and
Dicotyledonae; fully expanded broad leaves
 Grass and Grass-like Weed ID
• Key features to look for on
grasses
– ligule
– auricles
– blade/sheath hairs
• Not all features will be present
• Most ID keys begin with the
type of ligule

Hair-like No ligule
Ligule ligule present

Collar region

Membranous ligule Auricles and ligule

 Broadleaf Weed ID
Key features to look
for:
• Leaf arrangement on
stem
– alternate
– opposite
• Leaf and/or cotyledon
shape
• Other features to
consider:
– leaf margin traits
– leaf texture/hairs
– odor
• Most seedling keys
begin by asking for leaf
arrangement, then leaf
shape
 Broadleaf Weed ID contd.
• Leaf arrangement Alternate – leaves emerge at different
points or times on the stem; older
on stem ones are larger.

– alternate
– opposite
Leaf arrangement

Opposite – leaves emerge at the

same point and time and are the
same size.
 Broadleaf Weed ID contd.
•Leaf and/or cotyledon
shape
•Cotyledons or “seed
leaves” emerge first and
are always opposite. Do not
confuse them with the first
true leaves, which are used
First true leaves
to determine leaf shape on
Cotyledons most ID keys.
 Broadleaf Weed ID contd.

Various
leaf
margins
and
shapes

Note toothed
leaf margin
 Johnson grass
(Sorghum halepense)
• Key features
– Membranous ligule
– Prominent midrib
Perennial
– Reddish-brown seed
– Rhizomes
• Lifecycle Rhizome with new
– Perennial shoot
 Nutsedge (Cyperus)
• Key features
– No ligule
– Triangular stem
– Shiny blades
Perennial
– Nutlets
• Lifecycle
– Perennial
 Jimsonweed
(Datura stramonium)
• Key features
– Long lanceolate
cotyledons with
prominent midrib
– Smooth, lanceolate
/elliptic true leaves
– Purple stems
Annual

– Odor when crushed

– Large white/purple
trumpet-shaped flowers
– Egg-shaped seed pod
with spines
• Lifecycle
– Summer annual
Why and where weeds grow?

• ‘Nature’s means of restoring stability by

protecting bare soils and increasing
biodiversity’

• Succession –‘The cycle of a natural

progression of different plant and animal
species over time’.
 Timeline for a typical weed infestation

Infestation develops over a period

Activation – several days to of several years
50-80 years
120 days

This shows that weed management

CANNOT be done in ONE YEAR
The End