Identification and Control of Common Weeds: Volume 1 Zhenghao Xu • Guoning Zhou Identification and Control of Common Weeds: Volume 1 Zhenghao Xu Guoning Zhou Zhejiang University Hangzhou Bluesky Landscape Design Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Institute Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China ISBN 978-94-024-0952-9 ISBN 978-94-024-0954-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-024-0954-3 The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the print book from: Zhejiang University Press, Hangzhou. Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950669 © Zhejiang University Press, Hangzhou and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Science+Business Media B.V. The registered company address is: Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 GX Dordrecht, The Netherlands Preface A weed is a plant that grows in wrong places; the term commonly refers to a plant that vigorously grows and affects the growth of the more desirable plants, especially in fields, gardens, lawns, pastures, ornamental sites, or economical forests. A weed may turn out to be a pest when the unwanted plant luxuriantly grows in interest crop cultivation sites, thereby reducing the crop yields, deteriorating the product quali- ties, or even destroying the ecology system. A weed usually occurs in ruderal environments and goes around and begins again by seed reproduction and/or rhizome propagation. The natural habitats and the disturbances always determine weed communities and which types of weeds will become dominant. The composition and diversity of weed communities in dif- ferent situations can guide people to make the management themes more apposite or to use the helpful weeds for fodder or lawn practice. The natural weeds, such as Festuca arundinacea, Arundo donax, Phragmites australis, Pennisetum alopecuroi- des, Zoysia matrella, Saccharum arundinaceum, Eremochloa ophiuroides, and Chrysopogon zizanioides in grass weeds and Scirpus ternatanus, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Ceperus alternifolius subsp. flabelliformis, and Carex dimorpho- liepis in sedge weeds, are very useful for ornamental plants. Meanwhile, the grass weeds and sedge weeds that commonly occur in cultivated places can be effectively managed according to the biological and ecological characteristics of the target weeds. The common weeds, Echinochloa crusgalli var. mitis and Schoenoplectus laniculmis, belonging to grass weeds and sedge weeds, respectively, in paddy fields can be significantly controlled by flooding for one week or long after rice transplanting. Grass weeds together with sedge weeds are usually the main weeds which con- stantly occur in cultivated areas, such as paddy fields, upland fields, pastures, and ornamental sites, or even in wetlands or forests. Some grass or sedge weeds always accompany crops, such as Echinochloa crusgalli var. mitis, Paspalum distichum, Eleocharis yoloscensis, and Cyperus difformis, which are often concomitant with rice, resulting in great rice yield loss if they are not effectively controlled. In upland v vi Preface fields,Poa annua, Lolium temulentum, Polypogon fugax, and Alopecurus japonicus are the common grass weeds in wheat culvation sites, while Cyperus rotundus, Kyllinga brevifolia, Echinochloa crusgalli, and Digitaria ciliaris are the most occurrent grass or sedge weeds in lawns or ornamental sites. Some grass and sedge weeds are suited to aquatic, moist, and upland habitats, such as Echinochloa cau- date, Arundo donax, Fimbristylis littoralis, and Cyperus iria. To clean up the grass and sedge weeds in unwanted places, it is necessary to consume a large amount of labor or use substantial quantities of herbicides. Grass weeds usually have many resembling morphological characteristics, such as fibrous root systems or in some species short rhizomes or stolons, elongating nodes, several linear to ovate lanceolate leaves, terminal inflorescence, bisexual flowers, and fruit usually a caryopsis. Some species of grass weeds are so closely analogous that it is not easy to distinguish them from each other. Leersia hexandra, Leersia japonica, and Leersia sayanuka belong to the Leersia genus, and it is hard to identify them accurately for nonspecialists. Three of them have similar habitats, commonly occurring in paddy fields, ditches, marshes, and other wet places; how- ever, Leersia hexandra and Leersia japonica are noxious weeds in paddy fields, while Leersia sayanuka is used as one of the main plant resources for comprehen- sive pest control strategies nowadays. There are so many species with alike morpho- logical characteristics in grass weeds, especially those in the same genus, and it is necessary for weed scientists to describe them precisely and provide clear pictures of plants in different stages, especially the wonderful photos of special organs of the grass weeds, to better understand them. Just like grass weeds, the sedge weeds are also with many homologous morpho- logical features, particularly among species within the same genus. Fimbristylis lit- toralis, Fimbristylis dichotoma, and Fimbristylis bisumbellata are so similar, especially in the young stage, that it can be hardly recognized from each other at once, so it is important for specialists to provide an exact representation and a col- lection of illustrative plates to distinguish them accurately. Meanwhile, the common genus, Cyperus, in sedge weeds also has many species with similar morphological specificities, and laymen look at them as the same; however, they are different clearly in configuration if they are provided with distinct photos. Furthermore, there are more than 2000 species in the Carex genus and still with fewer clear depiction and accurate pictures of all species so far. Therefore, it is necessary for weed researchers to bewrite the sedge weeds clearly and furnish excellent photos to better understand their features. Both grass weeds and sedge weeds can grow in fascicles; sometimes they form a monodominant or predominant population; thereby it is always a troublesome issue to control them, especially when they have rhizomes, tubers, or a large amount of seed banks for many years or prostrate features. The weedy nature of these species usually gives them an advantage over more desirable crop species because they often grow fast and reproduce quickly or they may have short lifespans with multi- ple generations in the same growing season. In contrast, a perennial grass weed, Preface vii such as Sorghum halepense, a quarantine weed in most countries or regions in the world, often with underground stolons or rhizomes, can spread under the soil sur- face and form large clumps. Meanwhile, perennial sedge weeds, such as Mariscus cyperinus and Kyllinga brevifolia, usually with short or long rhizomes, grow thickly in suitable situations and become noxious weeds in lawns or cultivated places. There are three quarantine grass weeds, with worldwide distribution, illustrated in the book. The first quarantine weed, Lolium temulentum, is a noxious weed, due to the alkaloid temulentine causing poisoning to human beings or animals; intro- duced by seed transportation, it always accompanies wheats and grows very quickly after emergence although its seedling always unearths later than wheat; neverthe- less, its heading and maturing periods are earlier than wheat. Another quarantine weed, Cenchrus echinatus, naturalized in seashore sand dunes, roadsides, or other waste places and introduced by grain importation, often colonizes quickly and with- stands repeated defoliation in lawns or pastures; in addition, its bur detaches easily from the spike and attaches to clothing or animals for further dispersion. The third quarantine weed, Sorghum halepense, introduced by seed transportation or grain importation, is an important agricultural weed of cultivation throughout the world; adapted to a wide range of soil types, it often spreads aggressively and forms dense colonies to displace native or neighboring plants including trees. Thirty-four sedge weeds illustrated in the book belong to 12 different genera, and the species are distributed very unevenly among genera, with 11 species in the Cyperus genus; 6 species in the Carex genus; 4 species in the Schoenoplectus genus; 3 species