- Author: Guy B Kyser
There is already a wall on our southern border, apparently, made of arundo (giant cane). This NY Times feature discusses US - Mexico cooperation in tackling the giant grass. Great pictures, too.
Arundo is also a big deal in California. Locally, it is one of the target species in the Delta Regional Areawide Aquatic Weed Project.
- Author: Guy B Kyser
Saw a nice article about a gall fly soon to be released for control of Cape ivy. Our old friend Baldo from CDFA started work on this in 2001, so it's been a while coming. Cape ivy is our version of kudzu, at least along the coast.
- Author: Joseph DiTomaso
Croftonweed (also called thoroughwort) goes by the scientific name Ageratina adenophora or Eupatorium adenophorum. It is native to Mexico and has been introduced to a number of areas around the world. In China, it is the most important invasive plant of tropical forests in the Yunnan area, where it was introduced in the middle of the 19th century. Not only does it cause significant ecological and agricultural damage, but it is considered highly poisonous to cattle and horses, causing chronic lung toxicity. In addition to China, it is an important invasive plant in Hawaii, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and many other areas of Asia. The plant is a perennial herb or subshrub that grows from 3 to...
- Author: David Low
- Re-posted by: Gale Perez
From the WeedsNews4873 | May 20, 2014 | 8:28 pm
Abstract: Non-native plant distribution and community composition, along with an array of environmental factors, were examined in 31 hedgerows, an archetypal class of conservation linkage, in the northern part of California's Central Valley. Row crop, orchard, and vineyard agriculture dominate this area, and hedgerows have been popular...
- Author: Joe DiTomaso
- Author: Tom Barr
Aquatic weed propagules pose a serious long-term management problem. Curlyleaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) produces numerous asexual propagules that make traditional management difficult. We initially compared the effect of three benthic barrier materials (jute, polyethylene and rubber) on the control of curlyleaf pondweed turions (see Fig. 1 for example of bottom barriers) in both laboratory bench studies and studies using larger mesocosms. After the bottom barriers covered the turions for eight weeks we then determined the viability of the turions by allowing them to sprout. Our results showed that the jute and polyethylene did not give any control of curlyleaf pondweed sprouting, but the rubber barrier, which blocks both...