The UCCE Rice Team is conducting a field survey to collect watergrass samples over the next few weeks. The samples will be grown out in the greenhouse to help us start figuring out the identification and phenotypic characteristics (how to distinguish one from another) for the watergrass species found in California rice fields. The hope is that this will give us data for developing chemical and non-chemical management plans for watergrass, similar to what we have been working on with weedy rice over the past few years.

The project was funded by the California Rice Research Board, and is led by Whitney Brim-DeForest (UCCE Sutter-Yuba) and

Branched broomrape (Phelipanche ramosa), a weedy parasitic plant that can cause devastating damage to many economically important wide range of broadleaf crops including tomato, cabbage, potato, eggplant, carrot, pepper, beans, celery, peanut and sunflower has recently re-emerged in fields in Central Valley counties in California. This weed utilizes a modified root, called haustorium, to fuse into a host plant root and extract nutrients and water which can greatly reduce productivity or even kill the host depending on the level of infestation, susceptibility of the host, and environmental conditions. Tomato is highly susceptible to branched broomrape. In the United States, California accounted for over 90% of the 12...

From the Lassen county Farm Advisor's Update newsletter (Aug. 2020)

Highlighting Two Uncommon Noxious Weeds
Let's keep them uncommon!

There are two species of noxious weeds I want to bring to your attention, as they are not that common in our area: rush skeleton weed (Chondrilla juncea) and sulfur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta). Both of these perennial species have relatively small populations in the Intermountain...

Perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) also known as tall whitetop is a root-creeping perennial weed. It is commonly found along roadsides, ditches, and drains. It is also a big problem in pastures, non-cropland, and even cropland that is not tilled on a yearly basis. Unlike many other weeds of the state, pepperweed is problematic throughout many ecotypes, from low elevation wetlands around the delta up to high elevations in the Sierra's. Perennial pepperweed spreads by seed and root fragments and is very persistent and difficult to control once established.

Up in the Klamath basin, I've been amazed at the number of perennial pepperweed patches flowering along the road and ditches this year. The plants' tiny white...