Washington State Noxious Weeds: New and Updated Weed Information

Washington State Noxious Weeds: Laws, the Weed Board and Noxious Weed Species

Wendy DesCamp February 11, 2013 Today’s talk • State Noxious Weed Board • Weed law review • Noxious weed listing process • New species for the 2013 noxious weed list – Other changes for 2013 to noxious weed laws • Additional noxious weeds

Photo by Xianming Chen, USDA-ARS King County NWCB The State Weed Board

• Consists of 12 unpaid public officials – 9 voting members – 3 non-voting members – 2 paid staff members • Work with county and district weed control boards • Provide a voice to state and federal government • Promote public awareness and provide educational material • Produce the annual noxious weed list

Some commonly used terms • Weed: – A plant out of place, growing where we don’t want it. • Non Native Weeds: – Plants that have been introduced to a native plant community either by contamination or by intentional propagation • Obnoxious Weeds: – Plants that are an annoyance – Can be controlled or managed relatively easily • Invasive Weeds: – Aggressive plants – Take over a “native” plant community – May have been intentionally introduced – Could also be natives

What makes a species invasive?

• Biological attributes: – Fast growing

– Quick to mature Image: Wendy DesCamp – High seed output – Prolific vegetative reproduction – Usually perennials – Tolerance to range of environmental conditions • Introduction into similar latitudinal range • Lack of environmental constraints Yellow archangel Noxious Weed • “Noxious weed” means a plant that when established is highly destructive, competitive, or difficult to control by cultural or chemical practices. RCW 17.10.10 The Noxious Weed Laws • RCW 17.10 – Limit economic loss due to the presence and spread of noxious weeds – Holds landowners responsible for controlling noxious weeds on their property – Noxious Weed Control Boards—county and state

WSNWCB The Noxious Weed Laws

• WAC 16.750 – Weed list and schedule of penalties

• WAC 16.752 – Prohibited plants, aka the quarantine list

Noxious Weeds

• Plants are noted as aggressive and highly difficult to control • Plants have a significant ecological impact, economic impact and/or cause harm to humans and other animals • 3 class of noxious weeds

Class A Noxious Weeds • Class A consists of those noxious weeds – not native to the Washington – of limited distribution or are unrecorded in the state and – that pose a serious threat to the state • Eradication is required of all Class A noxious weeds • Currently 41 species

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Class B Noxious Weeds

Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) • Class B: not native to the state and are of limited distribution or are unrecorded in a region of the state and that pose a serious threat to that region.

• "Class B designate" means those Class B noxious weeds whose populations in a region or area are such that all seed production can be prevented within a calendar year. WAC 16-750.003(2g)

Image: Thurston County NWCB • Currently 62 species

Class B Designate Weeds • Automatically placed on county weed list • Goal: Containment, control and eventual eradication Class B Non-Designate Weeds • County weed boards have ability to place on their weed list • Goal: prevent spread to designated areas Class B Designation Regions

Up to 2013

Beginning in 2013 and onward Class B example

Class C Noxious Weeds

• All other noxious weeds – Already widespread in Washington or are of a special interest to the agricultural industry • Some counties may enforce control, but many choose to pursue education and Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense consultation avenues • Currently 44 species State List to County List

County List – All Class A’s – Class B’s designated by 16- 750 – Class B’s and Class C’s counties mandate control – Other B’s and C’s

Monitor List • Gather more information on suspect weeds • Monitor for occurrence or spread • Information collected may be used to justify future inclusion on the state noxious weed list • No legal or regulatory aspect to this list (WAC 16-750-025)

Lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria (Ficaria verna)

Images: WhatcomWhatcom County County NWCB NWCB The Noxious Weed listing process

• Jan-April: submission of proposals • May: Noxious Weed Committee (NWC) begins to review requested changes • September: NWC makes recommendations to State Weed Board • November: Public hearing, State Weed Board votes on changes • January: New changes take effect in new Noxious Weed List

Noxious weeds are not all “bad” – nothing is black and white

• We weigh the beneficial uses with the detrimental

impacts Images: Tim Miller WSU Extension • Some plants provide erosion control, ornamental value, medicinal properties, or nectar and pollen for bees, but their ecological or

economic impacts outweigh the beneficial uses.

Butterfly bush Ecological Impacts

• Disrupts the balance of the ecosystem – Displace native plant species – Degrade water quality – Disrupt native wildlife habitat

Whatcom County NWCB Thurston County NWCB Economical Impacts • Reduction in land value • Loss of grazing areas • Decline in crop value NWCB County Klickitat • Sickness and death in

livestock • Cost of noxious weed control

Public Health Impacts • Skin irritations/ Rashes • Allergies • Nausea • Death King County NWCB

Whatcom County NWCB County Whatcom

2013 Noxious Weed List Changes • Species additions – French Broom—Class A – Tall hawkweed—Class B – Common teasel—Class C – Common barberry—Class C • Changes to listed species – Japanese eelgrass—Class C – 11 Class B noxious weeds changed to Class C noxious weeds • Other changes – Update Class B designation regions – Update state Class B designations for Class B noxious weeds

French broom, Genista monspessulana (L.) L. A. S. Johnson • 2013 Class A noxious weed • Eradication required • Native to Northern Africa, parts of Europe and Asia • Naturalized in many countries

• Noxious weed list WSNWCB – California – Hawaii – Oregon (and quarantine) French broom

• Evergreen or deciduous shrub – typically growing 6-10 feet, (sometimes taller) • Young stems round in cross section with 8-10 ridges and covered in silky hairs • Leaves typically densely WSNWCB arranged on stems • Divided into 3 • Variably covered in silvery, silky hairs

John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org French broom • Flowers yellow and pea- like, around 0.4 inch (1 cm) long

• Axillary clusters of 4-10 WSNWCB • Seed pods hairy, around 1/2-1 inch long (1.5-3

cm) WSNWCB • Over 8,000 seeds per plant per year; seeds survive 5+ years

John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org French broom Scotch broom Spanish broom Conservancy, Bugwood.org Randall, M. John Nature The J. M. DiTomaso J. M.

Thurston County NWCB Robert Robert Vidéki J. M. DiTomaso J. M. ,

WSNWCB Doronicum

Kft

., Bugwood.org .,

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org French broom Scotch broom Spanish broom Single or paired in leaf axils, 0.4 inch (1 cm), in axillary .75 to 1.2 inches clusters of 4-10

WSNWCB WSNWCB WSNWCB Pods hairless except for margins, around 0.75-2 in. Andreas, WSU Extension Jenn Seed pods typically 1.5 to 4.3 inches long, densely covered WSNWCB with silky hairs Conservancy, Bugwood.org John M. Randall, The Nature WSNWCB

Rob andRob Fiona Richardson French broom

• Introduced ornamental, doesn’t

appear to be commonly sold in Bugwood.org sarracenia.com, Rice, Barry nursery trade. • Invaded and caused significant ecological and economic costs in Oregon and California • Identified in early 2010 growing on the SE slope of the Montlake Cut on UW property • No other known escaped populations • Be on the lookout for French broom

Control • Mechanical: – Hand pull seedlings, shrubs can be effectively pulled with weed wrenches – Carefully timed cutting and mowing regimen – Layer of woodchips, flaming on seedlings • Biological: – Goats • Herbicide: – Foliar spray , glyphosate (including a surfactant) – Cutting and painting the stumps with glyphosate or triclopyr • Read and follow the herbicide label carefully

Tall Hawkweed, Hieracium piloselloides Vill.

• 2013 Class B noxious weed – everywhere except Stevens and Pend Oreille counties • Native to temperate Asia and Europe • Noxious weed in Oregon and Montana • Shares the invasive characteristics of other hawkweed species-- impacts to rangeland and meadow ecosystems, especially in mid to upper elevations and in areas with low fertility soils

King County NWCB Margery Melgaard, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Tall Hawkweed

• Perennial, up to 3 ft. • Without stolons, with short stout rhizomes • Mostly basal leaves

• Flowerheads 11-20 in King County NWCB open, round-topped cluster

King County NWCB Tall Hawkweed

• Grows in shallow, coarse- textured soil, particularly along roadsides and in outwash areas • Counties with tall hawkweed – King, Snohomish and Grays Harbor • Currently limited in distribution in Washington – more populations possible due to its similarity to other hawkweeds

King County NWCB Tall hawkweed

• A long-term management strategy is needed to control invasive hawkweeds – Establish grasses and desirable plants • Mechanical: hand digging can work for small numbers • Herbicide: selective herbicides such as 2,4-D applied to growing plants before buds form Common teasel, Dipsacus fullonum L. • 2013 Class C noxious weed • Native to Northern Africa, Western Asia, Europe • Naturalized in many countries • Noxious weed in Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico • Weed of roadsides and other disturbed areas • Increasingly a problem in quality pastureland and farmland, particularly in NW Washington • Seed crop contaminant

WSNWCB Common teasel, Dipsacus fullonum

• Typically biennials, up to 7 feet tall • Second year plants produce dense flowerheads • 4 inches tall, oval- shaped, and consists of rows of small, purplish flowers • A single plant can Images: Steve Dewey, Utah State produce thousands of University, Bugwood.org); David Cappaert, Michigan State University, seed Bugwood.org; David Cappaert, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org Common teasel • Skagit County NWCB has experimented by cutting numerous seed heads, some as old as three years, at

different stages of development, and planting them; seeds viable, even in old stocks • Current management practices of roadside mowing is spreading seed

WSNWCB Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org Control

• Mechanical: WSNWCB – Rosettes can be dug out of the ground, remove the root to prevent resprouting – Cut flower stalks after beginning to flower, remove cut stalks (will need to be repeated) • Herbicide: – Foliar application, such as glyphosate and 2,4-D, can be applied to the rosette stage – Number of options in the PNW Weed Management Handbook • After control work, seed and plant areas with competitive grasses, forbs and other desirable plant species Common Barberry, Berberis vulgaris L. Richard Old, www.xidservices.com

• 2013 Class C noxious weed • Native to Asia temperate, Europe • Introduced as an ornamental shrub • Naturalized: – United States, Canada

Photo by Yue Jin, USDA-ARS Common Barberry

• Deciduous shrub, upright, to 4 meters, yellow wood • Stems with 3 parted spines at nodes • Leaves in clusters, spiny edges • Pendant racemes of yellow flowers, form scarlet berries Richard Old, www.xidservices.com • Reproduces by seed – Seeds can remain viable for 9+ year • Reproduces from rhizomes that are detached from the parent plant

Photo by Xianming Chen, USDA-ARS Common barberry • Alternate host for stem rust, which can cause yield losses of 100% in wheat and barley crops • Sexual reproduction of the pathogen occurs on the barberry – Potential development of new, virulent stem rust races. • Current law (WAC 16-472-030) requires the destruction of common barberry plants in the wheat-producing parts of the state • Class C listing will help with D. Roberts WSU Extension outreach efforts to educate about the importance of common barberry removal Common Barberry • Mechanical: digging out plants – Time consuming and generally not feasible – Protective clothing

• Herbicide: D. Roberts and T. Murray WSU Extension 2012 • Cut stump treatment: use label rate for brush stump treatment – Always mix with crop oil: Tordon (summer) and Imazapyr (summer or fall) • Foliar treatment during fall: Imazapyr – Mix with crop oil – Label rate for woody brush plants

• Report barberry findings at www.PNWstemrust.wsu.edu • Questions: Diana Roberts [email protected] or 509-477-2167

Changes to listed species: Japanese Eelgrass, Zostera japonica

WSNWCB

• Previously listed as: – Class C noxious weed on commercially managed shellfish beds only

• Modified listing to: – Class C noxious weed

WSNWCB Changes to listed species: Change 11 Class B noxious weeds to Class C noxious weeds

• Reduce the size of county noxious weed lists and give county weed boards the ability to prioritize noxious weeds of local concern • County noxious weed control boards would have the option of choosing them for mandatory control at the local level if they are problematic in the county

Class B noxious weeds changed to Class C noxious weeds

Austrian fieldcress, Rorippa austriaca Common catsear, Hypochaeris radicata

Blackgrass, Alopecurus myosuroides Polar hawkweed, Hieracium atratum Class B noxious weeds changed to Class C noxious weeds

Lawnweed, Soliva sessilis Longspine sandbur, Cenchrus longispinus

Lepyrodiclis, Lepyrodiclis holosteoides Oxeye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare Class B noxious weeds changed to Class C noxious weeds

Perennial sowthistle, Sonchus arvensis ssp. arvensis

Wild carrot, Daucus carota (except where commercially grown) Swainsonpea, Sphaerophysa salsula

WSNWCB WSNWCB Previous Class B Designation Regions Previous Class B Designation Regions

Counties that are split into two regions can make designations confusing. New 6-region designation map

Updating Class B Designations

• Update designations of the remaining 61 Class B noxious weeds • Based on the new noxious weed regions and using current distribution data and input from county noxious weed control boards • The goal is to ensure that the Class B designations are as accurate as possible and easier to understand Additional noxious weeds to be watching for

**Early detection is key

**Report plants to your county noxious weed board Shiny geranium, Geranium lucidum

• Listed Class A in 2009 WSNWCB • Native to Europe, Asia and N. Africa WSNWCB • Annual or biennial • Leaf and flower stems red-tinge, not hairy • Up to 20 inches (50 cm) tall

Thurston County Noxious Weed Control Board

Shiny geranium

• Leaves – Shiny! – Divided into 5-7 sections, each of which is separated into three lobes WSNWCB – Top surface sparsely covered with long, stiff hairs

WSNWCB WSNWCB Shiny geranium flowers • Flowering April-June • Petals – 5, pink • Sepals – Green, – Hairless – Strongly keeled – Transversely wrinkled

WSNWCB WSNWCB Shiny geranium • Habitats include well-shaded woodlands, forests openings; also grows in full to partial sun • Known locations in Washington are limited (?) (Thurston, Skagit, Clark, Skamania, Lewis, King counties) • Already spreading rapidly in NW Oregon

Bruce Newhouse of Salix Associates • Control: • Hand-pulling , heavy mulch layer • Herbicide prior to blooming • Clean shoes, equipment Shiny and dovefoot geraniums shiny WSNWCB

Prominent veins

Green, fuzzy stems, Magenta, hairless leaves soft and fuzzy stems + shinier leaves dovefoot on both sides Geranium comparisons

dovefoot shiny

Herb-Robert

hairless Burgundy, no keels keels or ridges, No keels, smooth, ridges hairy fuzzy Fuzzy flower stalks Dovefoot geranium Herb robert

Shiny geranium

Images Courtesy Dr. Tim Miller Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria)

• Mustard family Brassicaceae • Class A, 1988 • Annual, biennial, perennial • Up to 4 feet tall • Deep taproot and lateral roots

WSNWCB

Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org WSNWCB

WSNWCB

WSNWCB •Basal leaves and stem leaves •Glaucous •Leaves have a cream colored mid-rib from tip to base

WSNWCB

Dyer’s woad

• Branched flower clusters • 4 yellow petals • 6 stamens

WSNWCB Dyer’s woad

• Flattened pods • 3/8 to 3/4 inch long • Pod green, matures to dark purplish brown to black • Pear/oar shape • High seed production

Images: Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org

WSNWCB WSNWCB Dyer’s woad Habitats: rangelands, pastures, forest lands, waterways, croplands and disturbed areas: roadsides, gravel pits, railroad right-of-ways - Kittitas, Pierce, Yakima Control: Hand-pulling, cultivation in fields, targeted

herbicide

Steve Dewey,Steve Utah State University,Bugwood.org WSNWCB Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

• Class A noxious weed • Native to Europe, Asia and N. Africa • Biennial to short-lived perennial WSNWCB • Grows up to 3 feet • Garlic scented • 1st year: rosettes—kidney shaped leaves King County NWCB • 2nd year: Flowering stems—triangular to heart-shaped coarsely wavy toothed King County NWCB

King County NWCB Garlic mustard

Basal leaves Stem leaves

WSNWCB

King County NWCB County King King County NWCB WSNWCB Garlic mustard

• Flowers have 4 white petals and 6 stamens • Seed pods (siliques) long and slender, curving upward, up to 2.4 inches long • Self-fertile and has a high seed production rate

WSNWCB WSNWCB Garlic mustard

• Shade tolerant and difficult to control once it reaches a site. • Outcompetes native vegetation with early spring germination and can establish in a WSNWCB relatively stable forest understory • Important to prevent introductions, prevent spread

WSNWCB Garlic mustard

• Habitats include: forest understories, riparian areas, flood plains, trails, railways (sunny and dry)

Chris Evans, Illinois Wildlife Action Plan, Bugwood.org

Garlic mustard and common nipplewort (Lapsana communis)

WSNWCB

WSNWCB Flowering rush, Butomus umbellatus

• WA Class A noxious weed (quarantine) • Former pond ornamental • Submersed or emergent, freshwater, aquatic perennial

Images courtesy Ben Legler Flowering rush

• Stout rhizomes, can form bulbils • Leaves submersed or emergent • Leaves fleshy, blade triangular proximally, flattened distally Jenifer Parsons, WA DOE • Growth can have twisted/spiral growth

Flowering rush • Pretty, umbellate pink flowers with 3 petals and 3 sepals • Sporadic flowering

Image courtesy Dr. Peter Rice Distribution

• Capable of spreading aggressively along waterways via rhizomes, rhizome branches, inflorescence bulbils and possibly seed • Wide range of hardiness • Can impede recreational activities, choke irrigation ditches, and provide habitat for snail carrying swimmer’s itch parasite • Regional concern for MT, ID, WA, and OR

Flowering Rush

Tim Miller, WSU Extension

Tansy ragwort, Senecio jacobaea

• Class B noxious weed

• Biennial to perennial • 1st year: rosette of ruffled leaves

• 2nd year: upright flowering NWCB County Whatcom stems to 4 feet • Flowerheads in flat-topped

clusters • Each flowerhead: typically 13 ‘petals’

WSNWCB

WSNWCB Tansy ragwort

• Disturbed ground, roadsides, pastures, fields and cleared forested areas. • Tansy ragwort is toxic and can be lethal to cattle and horses – Toxic properties remain in cut plants found in hay • Hand pull plants, bag and remove

• Large infestations -- Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org combination of manual, biological and chemical control • Replant and monitor

Remember . . .

• You are our eyes on the ground • You see new infestations, plants that are new or different • Ask for help identifying unknown plants • Important to prevent spreading these and other invasive plants King County NWCB

WSNWCB Questions? Contact: Wendy DesCamp [email protected] (360) 725-5764

Website http://www.nwcb.wa.gov

Wendy DesCamp