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2 BY gk or
'W. S. BLATCRLEY
i
New Hark
State Callege of Agriculture
At Gornell University
Ithaca, NB.
Library
Tue InpiaNaA WEED Book °
By W. S. BLATCHLEY
Author of ‘‘Gleanings from Nature,’’ ‘‘A Nature Wooitg,’’ ‘‘Boulder Reveries,"*
‘*Woodland Idyls,’’ ‘“The Coleoptera of Indiana,’’ etc:
*“Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.””
—Tennyson.
INDIANAPOLIS:
THE NATURE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1912.
“Tf I knew
Only the herbs and simples of the wood,
Itue, cinquefoil, gill, vervain and agrimony,
Blue-vetch and trillium, hawkweed, sassatras,'
Milkweeds and murky brakes, quaint pipes and sundew,
And rare and virtuous roots, which in these woods
Draw untold juices from the common earth,
Untold, unknown, and I could surely spell
Their fragrance, and \their chemistry apply
a hd By sweet affinities to human flesh,
‘ Driving the foe and.stablishing, the friend—
O, that were much, and I could be a part
Of the round day, related to the sun ~!
And planted world, and full executor
Of their imperfect functions.
But these young scholars, who invade our hills,
Bold as the engineer who fells the wood,
And travelling often in the cut he makes,
Love not the flower they. pluck, and know it not,
And all their botany is Latin names.”—Hmerson.
SB
Co I oe.
Us {5
pee
ETE)
Copyright, 1912.
By W. S. BuatcHury.
@ 20616
Pe \“How ineffably vast and how hopelessly infinite is the study of na-
ture! If a mere dilletante observer like myself—a saunterer who gathers
posies and chronicles butterflies by the wayside for the pure love of them
—were to tell even all that he has noticed in passing of the mariners and
habits of a single weed—of its friends and its enemies, its bidden guests
and its dreaded foes, its attractions and its defenses, its little life history
and the wider life history of its race—he would fill a whole book up with
what he knows about that one little neglected flower; and yet he would
have found out after all but a small fraction of all that could be known
about it, if all were ever knowable.”’—Grant Alien,
PREFACE.
“Tough thistles choked the fields and killed the corn,
And an unthrifty crop of weeds was borne.”—Dryden.
Long has it been said that ‘‘An ill weed grows apace,’’ yet few
are the books that tell us how to check that growth. The wild
plants which dwell most closely with us, those with which we are
most familiar, are many of them ‘‘weeds,’’ yet of them and their
history we know but little. Whence came they? How did they
get here? What, if any, are their uses? What is their place
among other plants in the great scheme of Nature?’ How can we
best control or get rid of them? ‘Those are the questions which
we endeavor to answer in this book on Indiana weeds.
By the U. S. Department of Agriculture it has been estimated
that to crop and meadow lands weeds cause an average annual
loss of one dollar per acre. As at least two-thirds of the area of
Indiana is comprised of such lands it follows that the annual loss
in this State is $15,509,330 from weeds alone. This great loss
falls almost wholly upon the farmer. and it is for him, therefore,
that this book has been especially written. In the simplest man-
ner possible we have endeavored to describe the worst weeds of
the State, show their place among other plants and give the most
practicable methods for their control or eradication.
While the average farmer spends most of his years in fighting
weeds, he knows too little about them. A man is not considered
much of a carpenter unless he knows the different kinds of lum-
ber and the uses to which each can best be put; nor can he be-
come much of a printer unless he gets acquainted with the dif-
ferent forms of type and learns how hest to set them for the most
effective display. Why, then, should not the farmer strive to un-
derstand the true character of each of those plants which it is his
especial duty to either cultivate or extirpate? The close study of
soils, fertilizers, weeds, live stock and other factors of the farm
is rapidly raising the science of husbandry to a plane where it is
no longer regarded as irksome drudgery, but as one of the highest
callings of a free and intellectual people. Just as the old Roman
(8)
4 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
Emperor, Diocletian, was most ‘content while fighting the weeds
in his cabbage patch, so all other gardeners and farmers are ‘per-
forming man’s noblest duty, when they are endeavoring to make
two blades of grass grow where but one has grown before. And
especially is this true if that one was only a weed.
Not only for the farmers but also for the schools, where the
future farmers will be educated, has the book been prepared. A
farm-boy and a teacher has the writer been, and knows somewhat,
therefore, the needs of both. {| While to the minds of most people
weeds and poetry may seem to have little in common, the average
boy or girl of 15 or thereabouts delights in an apt quotation, a
legend or a bit of history which will illuminate the subject in
hand. (A little poetry and folk-lore, therefore, has been added
here and there to give a zest to the work. The farmer, if he be a
disciple of Gradgrind and so content only with facts, can blow
this off as froth and drink in only the more substantial draught
which lies below.
In this connection we cannot do better than to once again quote
Grant Allen, who says: ‘‘Our thoughts about nature are often
too largely interwoven with hard technicalities concerning rotate
eorollas and pedicellate racemes; and I for my part am not
ashamed to confess that I like sometimes to see the dry light of
science diversified with some will-o’-the-wisp of pure poetical imag-
ination. After all, these things too are themselves matters for the
highest science; and that kind of scientific man who cannot recog-
nize their use and interest. is himself as yet but a one-sided crea-
ture, a chemical or biological Gradgrind, still spelling away at the
weak and beggarly elements of knowledge, instead of skimming
the great book of nature easily through with a free glance from
end to end. Surely there are more things in heaven and earth
than are dreamed of in Gradgrind’s philosophy !’’
* ‘ *
“Wayside songs and meadow blossoms; nothing perfect, nothing rare;
Every poet’s ordered garden yields a hundred flowers more fair;
Master-singers know a music richer far beyond compare.
Yet the reaper in the harvest, ‘mid the burden and the heat,
Huis a half remembered ballad, finds the easy cadence sweet—
Sees the very blue of heaven in the corn-bloom at his feet.”
—Van Dyke.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, Feb, 20, 1912,
ON WEEDS IN GENERAL.
From the day that man with a crooked stick first tickled the
ground about the roots of some favorite plant which he desired to
grow more rapidly, and pulled from around it other plants that it
might have a better supply of air, moisture and sunshine—from
that dav weeds have existed upon the face of earth. Before that
day each and every plant was on an equality, fighting its own
battles in its own way, spreading far and wide by rootstocks and
seed its kind, evolving year by vear some property, some character
which would the better enable it to succeed in the great struggle
for existence. But when man for the first time began to domesti-
eate certain plants—te help them fight the battle of life—to set
off certain areas in which he wished them alone to grow—all
plants which were in any way harmful to his plans he called
“‘weeds.’’ From that day to this he has had to fight them, and
from as far back as the time of Juno—according to old Homer—
whenever he begins to get the better of them
“Old Earth perceives and from her bosom pours
Unbidden herbs and voluntary flowers.”
Many of the plants which that first gardener called weeds pos-
sessed hidden virtues, properties of excellence, which other men,
far down the vista of the vears, discovered. These plants they
began to cultivate, to utilize. and so removed them from the cate-
gory of weeds. Meanwhile some of the first of cultivated plants,
when carried to other parts of the earth, have either lost those
properties which rendered them useful to man or have, through
a change of soil and other environment, become so successful, so
aggressive, that they spread and intrude upon the areas set aside
for other plants favored by man, and have become the most com-
mon of weeds. So the list of weeds is ever changing, some being
,added here, others subtracted there, until it is different in every
country, state or nation on earth and is nowhere settled or stable.
(5)
6 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
DEFINITION OF A WEED.
As a result of the conditions stated there are many definitions
of a weed, among them being:
(a) “A plant out of place or growing where it is not wanted.”
(b) “A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”—Hmerson.
(c) “An herb which is useless or troublesome and without special
beauty.
(d) “Tobacco.”
(c) “A plant which contests with man for the possession of the soil.”
(f) “A useless plant growing wild, of sufficient size to be easily no-
ticeable and of sufficient abundance to be injurious to the farmer.”
(g) “Any injurious, troublesome or unsightly plant that is at the
same time useless or comparatively so.”
The reader, be he student, teacher, poet or farmer, can choose
from the abové definitions or others the one which suits best his own
taste, fancy, belief or experience. Suffice it to say that whether
a plant is a weed or no depends wholly upon the point of view.
Many a plant, which is among the worst of weeds to a farmer, is
to the poet or naturalist a flower of surpassing beauty. The list
of Indiana weeds which fellows is hased upon the standpoint of the
farmer, and comprises the 227 of the 2,000 and more plants grow-
ing wild in the State* which are thought to be the most harmful
to his interests. During its compilation definitions (f) and (q),
above given. have been the ones considered.
Those plants which have hecome the most common or ‘‘worst
weeds’? are those which have been most successful in evolving
‘methods or properties of defending themselves against being de-
stroyed by nlant-eating animals; in devising means for ready and
rapid cross-fertilization, either by wind or insects, and in provid-
ing for themselves effective means of distributing their seeds or
other ways-of propagation when the seeds are difficult to ripen.
Under the head of the Nettle Family, in the list which follows,
are mentioned some of the ways by which plants defend them-
selves from browsing animals. The ox-eve daisy and related weeds
of the Compositae Family have been most successful in devising
methods for fertilization of a large number of flowers in a short
time by insects, while the grassés and plantains are adepts in pro-
ducing means for wind fertilization.
‘
*OF these, 1,783 are listed in Sianley Coulter’s “Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns and Their
Allies Indigenous to Indiana,” published in 1899. In various papers published since that date in the Proceedings
of the Indiana Academy of Science, 177 additional species have been recorded,
METITODS OF WEED SEED MIGRATION.
-}
DistRIBvUTION of WEED SEEDS.
Our worst weeds are in general those which have devised the
most successful ways of distributing their seeds to fields and pas-
tures. new, where the competition will not be so great as in the
immediate vicinity of the parent plant. Many are the methods
used and a number of agents or factors enter into this seed dis-
semination, chief among which are wind, water, birds, animals and
man, his machinery and methods of commerce. These different
methods of seed distribution should be of especial interest to the
farmer, for 4 knowledge of them will often enable him to trace the
source of some noxious migratory weed which has appeared upon
his land, and will cause him to be on the lookout for it from the
same or similar origin. Moreover, some of the factors of seed dis-
tribution are partly or wholly under his control, while others, such
as water and wind, are wholly beyond his power to lessen.
SEEDS CARRIED BY WIND.—The wind is one of the most potent
factors in the wide distribution of wced seeds. Many weeds, as
those of thistle, dandelion, fireweed, prickly lettuce, etc., have each
seed enclosed in a little case to the top of which is joined a tuft of
downy hairs, thus enabling them to be lifted and carried several
miles by the wind; in the case of the milkweeds the tuft is attached
to the seed itself. Some of the grasses have long hairs upon the
chaff surrounding the grain, which serves the same purpose, while
some of the docks, the actinomeris and others have the seeds or
achenes winged or expanded on the sides so that they are easily
lifted and borne onward by a passing breeze. (Fig. 1, a and f.)
The seeds of many weeds are blown long distances over the
surface of snow, ice or frozen ground. The ragweeds, velvet-leaf,
docks, pigweeds, chickweed and different weeds of the grass family
are examples of those whose seeds are so distributed.
Some plants after ripening their seeds are broken off near the
ground and rolled over and over by the wind, the seeds dropping
off at intervals along the way. These ‘‘tumble-weeds’’ as they are
called, include our Indiana weeds known as old-witch grass, Rus-
sian thistle, two species of amaranth and the buffalo bur, besides
a number of others.
SEEDS CARRIED BY WATER.— Water is an important agent in the
dispersion of the seeds of many weeds, especially those which grow
in flood plains or along the banks of streams. The great ragweed,
smartweeds, bindweeds and others depend largely upon the an-
nual overflows for the wide spreading of their seeds. The seeds
8 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
of many weeds growing on uplands are continually being washed
down the slopes into lowland soils where many of them germinate
and flourish. So long as careless farmers on the higher grounds
allow the seeds of noxious weeds to ripen, just so long will the
farmers on the lowlands have weed seeds scattered over their fields
by countless thousands. Many weeds bearing ripened seeds and
growing along the banks of streams are washed bodily into the cur-
rent when the banks cave off, aud are carried for miles down
stream, finally lodging in bed of silt or bottom tietd, in soil well
suited to the future plant.
BirDS AS SEED CARRIERS.—T'he berries or seed pods of certain
weeds are eaten by birds for the nutriment found in the outer pulp
and the hard seeds pass undigested. The nightshades, poison ivy,
pokeweed, blackberry and pepper-grass are some weeds whose
seeds are thus distributed. The seeds of thistles, ragweeds, dande-
lions, knot-grass and other weeds are often eaten in such quantities
by sparrows and other birds that many of them are doubtless un-
digested and are distributed in new localities.
Water birds often carry seeds long distances in mud which
has become encased or hardened on their feet. Darwin, in his
‘‘Origin of Species,’’ states that he took in February, 3 tablespoon-
fuls of mud from 3 different points beneath water on the edge of
a little pond. This mud, when dried, weighed only 63 ounces and
in the viscid state was all contained in a breakfast cup. He kept
it in his study for six months, pulling up and counting each plant
as it grew; the plants were of many kinds and were altogether 537
in number. It is very easy, therefore, for birds to distribute many
seeds in this way.
A bird also sometimes catches up a sprig of a plant and carries
it where the seeds can be eaten without molestation, the act re-
sulting in a wide scattering of the seed.
ANIMALS AS SEED CARRIERS.—Many weeds have developed spines
or small hooks on their seeds or seed vessels by which they become
attached to the fur of every passing animal, and especially to the
wool of sheep, manes of horses and clothing of man, and are then
borne far and wide before being dislodged. Thus we have the
burs of burdock, cocklebur and bur-grass; the hooked achenes of
the buttereups; the barbed hairs of the fruits or seed vessels of
wild carrots; the prickly nutlets of hound’s tongue and beggars’
lice; the bristly pod-joints of the seed-ticks or ‘tick-trefoils and
the barbed achenes of the bur-marigolds, beggar-ticks and Spanish
needles. The seeds of the mustards, when moistened, exude’a mu-
RAILWAYS AS CARRIERS OF WEED SEEDS. 9
cilage which causes them to adhere to every passing object. Live
stock taken from one farm or one locality to another often carry
many of these seeds or burs in wool, manes or tails, and many a
clean farm has from this cause suddenly produced crops of weeds
whose origin doubtless puzzled and dismayed the owner. The
parts of seeds or fruits which have been evolved as clasping organs
are thus seen to be varied in form 4nd structure, but each has
enabled the plant to which it belongs to migrate time and again
to a new home where it could the better fight the battle of life.
MAN AS AN AGENT OF SEED DISTRIBUTION.—The plants which
have become the most successful weeds of the farm have had their
seeds spread more widely through the agency of man than through
all other methods combined. His roads and trails wind everywhere
Fig. 1. Ill:strating methods of seed distribution: a, seeds (achenes) of dandelion with pappus attached,
several of them still borne on the receptacle: b, fruit of beggar-cicks showing the barbed awns; c and d, burs or
fruits of cocklebur and burdock, showing the grappling appendages; e, fruit of wild carrot, showing the clutching
spines; f, winged fruit of wafer-ash. (After Kerner and Beal.)
through plain and forest; his railway lines bind every State to-
gether and connect with steamship lines from across the seas, and
along all these avenues of commerce weed seeds are constantly
travelling, sometimes as paid passengers in company with grain
and other farm seeds, but more often as hoboes in hay, bedding,
packing, shipments of fruit, ete.
The great east and west trunk lines of railways are responsible
for the wide distribution of many a weed, such as the Russian
thistle, prickly lettuce, Canada thistle and Texas nettle, which
first appear in any locality along a railway. The seeds are carried
either in the coats of cattle or sheep, in the hay which supports
them on their journey, or in the bedding on the floor of the car.
Dropping at intervals all along the line the seeds find excellent
10 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
beds in the bared soil along the tracks where they sprout and grow
until ready. to take another step in advance. The botanist has
learned their ways of migration and knows that if he wishes to.
find new and interesting species his best pathway will be alongside
the railways.
Many seeds are introduced in the packing about crates of china
or glassware, shipments of nursery stock and in baled hay. Many
more are distributed by being mixed with commercial seeds, such
as those of clover, wheat; flax and grasses.
On his harrows, plows and cultivators the farmer often carries
pieces of rootstocks, bulbs, etc, from one. field or farm to another.
Perennial weeds such as couch-grass, trumpet-creeper, bouncing
bet, bindwecd and ox-eye daisy are the ones most generally scat-
tered in this manner. Wagons, self-binders and especially thresh-
ing machines are responsible for the distribution of many weed
seeds which are jostled from them as they pass along the roadways
or over the fields from farm to farm. Many a well managed farm
often becomes infested with noxious weeds in this way. Barnyard
manures, and especially manures hauled from cities and towns
where much of the feed-stuffs have heen purchased from a distance,
are also active agents in the spread of weed seeds.
The above are some of the indirect ways in which man has
brought about the wide distribution of noxious weeds. He is also
directly responsible for the spread of many weeds by introducing
them into his gardens or fields, cultivating them for a time and
then allowing them to escape. Such well known weeds as wild
garlic, purslane, tansy, bouncing het, oxe-eye daisy, chicory, wild
carrot, butter and eggs, catnip and motherwort have been widely
spread in this way. Suffice it to say that many of our most com-
mon weeds are those which have been introduced directly or in-
directly by man into some locality, have there been allowed to
grow for a few years in his cultivated fields or under his care,
and have thus become acclimated and better adapted for a wide
and successful migration throughout the land.
Those weeds which are most common and successful in culti-
vated fields are in general those wiHfich by reason of a quick growth
are enabled to produce and ripen an enormous number of seeds.
Careful estimates made hy the Towa and Kansas Experimental
Stations show. that the number of seeds produced by a single aver-
age full grown specimen of 15 of our most common weeds is as
follows:
WEED ASSOCIATIONS BASED ON ENVIRONMENT. 11
Crab-gvass ..........e eee 89,600 Velvet Leaf ............05. 31,900
Yellow Foxtail ............ 118,600 Purslane Speedwell ........ 186,300
PIS WOOO. ba ieee ace dresses oe 85,000 Dandelion ............0..06 1,729
Tumble-weed: ............4. 14,000 Ragweed sina seccascen wees ae 23,100
PPUPSTAMNG: ic cciesers: sessalerraiataecs ae 69,000 Oocklebur ........ cee eee 9,700
Pepper-grass ...........0.005 12,225 Beggar-ticks ............... 10,500
CHAPIOGIE 4. gis desea auarsaniacea ane 9,800 Ox-eye Daisy ...... cece eee 6,750
Shepherd's Purse .......... 17,600
WEED CoMMUNITIES OR ASSOCIATIONS.
Many weeds, like misery, love company. Certain species when
they travel go together and settle down in a little community on
a tract of land having an environment especially suited to their
taste and manner of growth. Thus along roadsides and cow-paths
one finds the knot-grass, black medic, wire-grass, dog-fennel, rib-
wort and prickly sida; in barnyards the jimson-weed, mother-
wort, burdock, catnip, water-pepper and yellow dock; in lawns and
country yards the dandelion, common plantain, shepherd’s purse
and round-leaved mallow. The most of these are so-called ‘‘social
weeds,’’ forming company not only for themselves but for man
and accompanying him everywhere in his march across the conti-
nent. On the half-barren slopes of old fields there usually occurs
a little community made up of the evening primrose, mullen, field
sorrel, pennyroyal, cinquefoil, steelweed and ox-eye daisy, with
usually a few blackberry briers and a clump of fragrant. everlast-
ing to bear them company. In rich soil along the borders of up-
land thickets occurs the figwort, ground ivy, blue lettuce, wood
nettles and trefoils; in open woodland pastures, the common
thistle, iron-weed, actinomeris, pokeweed, hawkweeds and Indian
tobacco; on river banks, especially near towns, the white sweet-
clover, bouncing bet, teasel, wormseed, milkweed, and prickly let-
tuce; while in rich alluvial lowlands grow the great horse-weed,
willow aster, cocklebur, bindweed, smartweed and wild sweet po-
tato. Numerous other plant associations could be mentioned but
the above are more than sufficient to show that weeds are gregarious
and that those which have similar tastes tend, like birds of a
feather, to flock together.
THe Origin oF INDIANA WEEDS.
Having noted the various ways in which weeds are distributed
over the earth it is not surprising to find that in Indiana the great
majority of.our very worst. weeds are aliens from a foreign shore.
They are the ones which have suceeeded best in crowding out and
12 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
displacing our wild and cultivated native plants and in taking, if
unmolested, complete possession of the soil. Most of these foreign
weeds possess that. “ingrained coarseness, scrubbiness, squalor and
sordidness, that stringiness of fibre, hairiness of surface or prickly
defensive character’? which marks them as masters of the plant
world, as weeds par excellence.”
Of the 150 species of plants which are hereafter listed as being
most harmful to the farmers of the State, 77 are natives of Indiana,
that is, indigenous tc her soil, while 73 are introduced species. Of
the latter 58 came from Europe, 2 from Asia, 8 from tropical
America and 5 from the plains of the Western States.
These 150 weeds are grouped in 3 classes. Class I. comprises
our worst weeds, those which are fighters from start to finish, not
only holding the soil in which they grow but ever striving to gain
a hold on new territory. Of the 150, 46 belong to this class, and
of the 46, 34 are introduced and only 12 are native to the State.
Of the 84 foreign species 27 came from Europe, 2 from Asia, 4
from tropical America and 1 from the West.
Class II. comprises those weeds which are less aggressive, but
are yet annoying to the farmer and the gardener. All have a
weedy character and many of them seem to be waiting only for
the proper conditions to arrive before jumping over the line into
Class I. This Class is evenly divided, 32 species being introduced
and the same number native to the State. Of the 32 outsiders, 24
are from Europe, 4 from tropical America and 4 from the West.
To Class III. belong those weeds which in Indiana occupy for
the most part waste farm lands, rarely encroaching upon cultivated
fields, or if they do being easily subdued by hoe or scythe. A
number of them yield more or less forage for grazing stock, while
some are cut for hay when other crops are short. Of the 40
species belonging to this group 33 are native to our soil. while 7
came from Europe.
It must be borne in mind that this grouping is only from the
view-point of the writer, based upon long observation of the weeds
of the State. The reader may, from personal experience, have a
widely different opinion as to which class a certain weed should
be assigned. Moreover, this grouping refers only to the weeds of
Indiana. Some of those in Class III. are doubtless members of
Class IT. or even I, in other States, while some of the worst of
Class I. may there do little harm.
In addition to the 150 weeds listed and described, 77 Pies
are, in their proper order, mentioned and briefly characterized,
LOSSES ENTAILED BY RAISING WEEDS. 13
They are closely related to or sometimes only varieties of those de-
scribed, and the differences in habits being small and remedies for
eradication practically the same, space was not taken for their
more extended mention. Some of them, however, are bad weeds, 9
belonging to Class I., 36 to Class II. and 32 to Class III. Of the
77, 31 are introduced and 46 native to Indiana, 7 of the 9 worst
ones being foreigners.
If to the 46 worst weeds listed we add the 9 briefly charac-
terized, we have in the State 55 of the most aggressive of weeds.
Of these 41, or 75 per cent., are of foreign origin. About the same
proportion of alien weeds is seen by anyone who travels through
the Eastern States. In fact, America seems to be not only the
‘home of the oppressed of all nations’’ but her soil seems to suit
exactly those weeds which are the offscourings and refuse of civil-
ization in all countries. As Grant Allen has well said: ‘‘In eivi-
lized, cultivated and inhabited New England, and as far inland at
least as the Mississippi, the prevailing vegetation is the vegetation
of Central Europe, and that at its weediest. The daisy, the prim-
rose, the cowslip and the daffodil have stayed at home; the weeds
have gone to enlonize the New World. For thistles and burdock,
dog-fennel and dead-nettle, hound’s tongue and stick-seed, catnip
and dandelion, ox-eye daisy and cocklebur, America easily licks all
creation. All the dusty, noisome and malodorous pests of all the
world seem there to revel in one grand congenial democratic-orgy.’’
How WeeEps LESSEN THE OUTPUT OF THE Farm.
The greatest question on earth to-day is, How long will the
soil feed the human race? Any factor which will serve to increase
that time, even in small degree, is of great economic importance.
The population of Indiana is ever increasing. The number of
acres of land within her bounds will be the same as long as those
bounds remain as they are. To increase the output of the land
and make the gain in vield of farm products to some extent keep
pace with the increase in population is at present the leading
problem which the more intelligent farmers of the State are trying
to solve. One of the greatest factors in this problem is that of
weeds. It is a self-evident fact that in all parts of the State they
are in many. ways a source of constant and heavy loss in the out-
put of the farm. Some of these ways are briefly set forth in the
following paragraphs:
a. They rob the soil of much of that plant food so necessary
to the proper growth of cultivated crops. As a single example of
14 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
this robbery it has been shown by the Massachusetts. Experiment
Station that ‘‘one ton of ox-eye daisy withdraws from: the soil 25
pounds of potash, 8.7 pounds of phosphoric acid, 22 pounds of
nitrogen and 26 pounds of lime. To restore the stated amounts
of the first. three constituents to the soil it would be necessary to
apply about 50 pounds of muriate of potash, 65 pounds of super-
phosphate and 140 pounds of nitrate of soda.’’* It. will thus be
seen that this, as well as all other weeds, feed upon precisely the
same foods as do wheat, corn and other cereal crops. They de-
prive the crop with which they grow, or one which will come after
it, of exactly the same amount of plant food as they withdraw,
Fig.2. Mixture of weed seeds commonly found in low-grade alsike clover seed: a, alsike clover; b, white
clover; c, red clover; d, yellow sweet-clover; e, Canada tbistle; f, dock; 9, field sorrel; h, buckhorn; i, rat-
tail plantain; &, lamb's-quarters; J, sheplierd’s purse; m, dog-fennel; 7,.acentless. camomile; 0, white, campion;
p, night-flowering catch-fly; g, ox-eye daisy; r, small-fruited false flax; s, cinquefoil; ¢, two kinds of pepper-
grass; u, catnip; », timothy; 2, chickweed; y, Canada blue-grass; z, cloyer dodder; 1, mouse-ear. chickweed;
2, knot-grass; 3, tumbling pigweed; 4, rough pigweed; 4, heal-all; 6, lady’s thumb. (After Hillman.)
and if allowed to grow with other crops will take their due pro-
portion of any fertilizer that may be applied.
b. They rob the soil of moisture which they waste by evapora-
tion, thus increasing the evil effects of droughts.
c. They crowd out and shade cultivated plants, thus greatly
decreasing the vield of the latter. Most weeds have better. devel-
oped roots which penetrate to a greater depth than those of the
plants with which they grow. ‘They therefore gather food: and
moisture more readily and usually soon out-top many crops,
shutting ont the sunlight so necessary to perfect maturity of the
cultivated plants.
"Far. Bull. No, 103,
WEEDS POISONOUS TO STOCK AND CHILDREN. 15
d. ‘They inerease the cost of any crop not only by taking the
time of labor to keep them in subjection, but by retarding, espe-
cially in cereal crops, the work of preparing the ground, seeding,
harvesting, threshing, cleaning the grain and marketing the out-
put.
e. They cause a greater wear and tear on farm machinery,
especially mowers, binders and threshing machines, often causing
them to clog and break. :
f. They frequently necessitate an unprofitable change in the
rotation of crops, causing the farmer to produce some crop of little
profit in order the more quickly to get rid of a certain weed.
g- Some weeds such as corn cockle and wild garlic are espe-
cially injurious to wheat, as when ground with it they render the
flour poisonous and unpalatable. Others, as buckhorn, dodder and
field sorrel, produce seeds which are very difficult to separate from
the seeds of clover, thus greatly increasing the cost of the latter.
h. Very few weeds furnish pasture or food for stock and some
of them, as the water hemlock, sneezeweed, ete., are very poison-
ous when eaten by them. The burs of others are very annoying
in wool, the manes of horses or the tails of horses and cattle.
4. Weeds such as the nightshades, water hemlock, bitter sweet,
pokeweed, jimson, etc., often cause the death or serious illness of
children.
j. Many weeds furnish food or hibernating places for injurious
insects. Examine carefully the winter rosettes or root-leaves of a
mullen, or note the melon lice on shepherd’s purse and pepper-
grass, and be convinced. Others are propagating plants for rusts
and mildews which attack vegetables and small grains of many
kinds.
k. Finally most weeds are unsightly objects, being at some or
all stages of their existence cyesores whose presence not only in-
dicates a negligent and slovenly farmer but damages the appear-
ance and lessens the value of any land which he may wish to sell.
BENEFITS OF WEEDS.
To the practical farmer, who delights in a highly productive
and clean farm, weeds offer apparently little of value to offset their
many disadvantages. Yet they possess some virtues and are not
to be considered wholly as enemies.
When plowed under they of course add some humus and fer-
tility to the soil, while if allowed to grow after a crop has been
harvested they shade the ground thus conserving many forms of
16 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
plant food. Their greatest benefit, however, lies in the fact that
they induce frequent and thorough cultivation of the soil, thus
increasing largely the output of any crop which may be grown.
On this point L. H. Bailey maintains: ‘‘That weeds always have
been and still are the closest friends and helpmates of the farmer.
It was they which first taught the lesson of the tillage of the soil,
and it is they which never allow the lesson, now that it has been
partly learned, to be forgotten. The one only and sovereign rem-
edy for them is the very tillage which they have introduced. When
their mission is finally matured, therefore, they will disappear, be-
cause there will be no place in which they can grow. It would be
a great calamity if they were now to disappear from the earth,
for the greater number of farmers still need the discipline which
they enforce. Probably not one farmer in ten would till his lands
well if it were not for these painstaking schoolmasters, and many
of them would not till at all. Until farmers till for tillage’s sake,
and not to kill the weeds, it is necessary that the weeds shall exist,
_ but when farmers do till for tillage’s sake, then weeds will dis-
appear with no effort of ours.”’
Tur WEEDS OF CITIES AND Towns.
Weeds are not only a curse to the farmer but the city resident
is also greatly troubled with them. Many an hour does he spend
on his lawns, grubbing dandelions and other pests which are fight-
ing the blue-grass, while in his alleys and backyards many an un-
sightly species is constantly attempting to grow and ripen its
seeds. In all cities, and especially in and about country towns,
there are numerous vacant lots-and commons which each year pro-
duce nothing but a big crop of the vilest of weeds. The largest
patch of Canada thistle which the writer ever saw was on one of
these waste places in the city of Indianapolis. Prickly lettuce and
sow-thistles, cockleburs and horse-weed, burdock and bull thistles,
spiny amaranth and pigweed, dog-fennel and Mexican tea, sweet-
clovers and wild mustard, jimson-weeds and wild carrots grow
rankly on these lots and form dense thickets through which a per-
son can scarcely force his way. Being for the most part level these
city or town lots have at some time been cultivated and the orig-
inal growth of grass and trees removed, leaving a surface excel-
lently adapted to these worst of migratory weeds. Their seeds are
introduced in many ways, more easily indeed than in the open
country, for here rubbish of all kinds. is dumped, such as bedding
from stables and stock cars, packing from about china and glass-
WEEDS OF CITIES AND TOWNS. “17
ware, sweepings from elevators and grain stores and refuse from
kitchens. In many instances the lots are low and the owners have
them filled with the material mentioned, thus furnishing an excel-
lent seed bed already planted for many a weed. Oftentimes these
weed patchs are wholly or partly surrounded by high bill-boards,
thus hiding the weeds from sight and allowing them to flourish
without molestation.
These city and town weeds, as long as growing vigorously, are
somewhat beneficial in that they serve to purify the air by using
carbonic acid gas and throwing off oxygen. As soon as they die,
however, they begin to decay and reverse this process, absorbing
the oxygen and throwing off the gas, and should be at once mowed
and removed. They gather dust and harbor bacteria and various
injurious fungi; shade the soil and keep it damp and sour; while
- certain species produce great quantities of pollen which is often
_. very irritating. Growing as they do where many children congre-
gate, the poisonous species, such as pokeweed, nightshade and jim-
son are very apt to be eaten. The three-leaved ivy, with its at-
tractive foliage and poisonous juices or exhalations, often occurs
along the borders of these city lots and causes blisters on the skin
of many a youngster.
Instead of raising noxious weeds these vacant lots should be
put to more important uses. In most of the cities and larger
towns there are many poor people who would be glad to utilize .
them for gardens. Such use would not depreciate their value for
building purposes and would greatly lessen the cost of living of
the needy and the amount necessarily bestowed in charity upon
them. In many places the weeds and rubbish can be removed at
a small cost, the surface leveled and sown to some perennial grass,
and the plot then used as a’playground for children. Such play-
grounds are always welcomed in the crowded portions of the larger
cities, where open places for that romping and running so dear to
a child’s heart and so necessary to its health, are often few or
absent.
CLASSIFICATION OF WEEDS AccorpING TO Lire PERIOD.
Weeds, like other plants, are grouped, according to the length
of time they live, into three classes, viz., annuals, biennials and
perennials.
ANNUALS.—An annual weed is one that rounds out its cycle
of existence within a single year. Of these there are two sub-
classes, ordinary or ‘‘summer annuals’’ and ‘“‘winter annuals.’’
[2]
18 ; THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
Ordinary annuals spring from the seed in spring, mature, blossom
and ripen their seeds before the frosts of autumn. Ragweed, fox-
tail, purslane and crab-grass are 4 of our worst weeds which are
examples of this group. As a rule these summer annuals have
small fibrous roots and produce many seeds.
Winter annuals spring from the seed in late summer or au-
tumn, produce a growth of root-leaves before the ground is
thoroughly frozen, then in carly spring send up a flower-stalk and
ripen their seeds usually by May or June. Shepherd’s purse,
pepper-grass, white-top and prickly lettuce are among our worst
of winter annuals, while winter wheat and rye are cultivated ex-
amples. Some of these weeds are both winter and summer an-
nuals, a part of the seed germinating in the spring and the flowers
appearing much later in the season than those of the same species
from the.winter annuals. :
In dealing with annual weeds the one general and obvious
method is to destroy them in some manner before their seeds ripen.
This can best be done by mowing, pulling, cutting with the hoe
or smothering with the cultivator. If this be kept up for a few
years and the work thoroughly done they will be completed eradi-
cated from a farm. They would all be destroyed the first season
were it not for the fact that the seeds of many species possess
great vitality and often remain in the ground for years without
impairing their power of growth. When brought close enough to
the surface, if the conditions of moisture and temperature are
right, they usually sprout at once. Any method of cultivation,
especially in late fall or early spring, which will cause these buried
seeds te germinate will thus go far towards getting rid of annual
weeds, provided, of course, the young ones are killed as they ap-
pear. The voung plants of ragweed, wild mustard, lamb’s quar-
ters, black bindweed and many other annuals are easily uprooted
and killed by harrowing in autumn the growing crop of wheat,
oats or rye with a light slope-tocthed harrow. After the crop is
well up, and there is no danger of covering the blades too deeply,
few if anv grain plants will be dragged out if the work is done
when the land is in proper condition for harrowing
Brenniits.—A biennial is a two-year plant, that is, one which
springs from a seed and spends the first season in storing up a
supply of nourishment in a large root or tuber, this heing used
the second season in promoting a rapid growth and producing
flowers and seeds. Among our worst biennial weeds are the com-
mon thistle, wild carrot, mullen, burdock and hound’s tongue. Bi-
THE USE OF THE SPUD. 19
ennials grow for the most part along roadsides, borders of fields
and in pastures, as their roots will not withstand thorough culti-
vation.
Any method of destroying the root or the top of the plant be-
fore the seeds ripen will eventually get rid of this class of weeds in
cultivated. ground. slen-
= acc wT
d. Stamens distinct; pollen in ordinary grains ; follicles*ve. 2
der, cylindrical, pointed. DoeB4 NE FAMILy, p. 104°
dd. Stamens united by their filaments to form a tube; pollea
grains united into waxy masses; follicles robust.
MILK WEED FAmIty, p. 105.
cc. Stems and leaves without milky juice; fruit not a follicle; seeds
without tufts of hairs; leaves opposite or alternate; ovary 1,
compound. :
e. Corolla regular (slightly irregular in blueweed of the Borage
Family).
f. Ovary not deeply 4-lobed; fruits not separating as 1-seeded
nutlets when ripe.
g. Stamens 5; flowers not in terminal spikes; leaves alter-
nate.
h. Twining or trailing vines; fruit not a berry or a large
prickly capsule. ;
i. Stems white or yellowish, leafless, twining, para-
sitic vines. Dopper Fai y, p. 110.
di. Stems green, leaf-bearing vines; flowers of our
weeds large, funnel-form or bell-shaped.
Morninc-GLory FAMILY, p. 107.
hh. Erect and branching herbs, not vines; fruit a berry
or a large prickly capsule; corolla either bell- or
wheel-shaped, or large funnel-form and ill-smelling.
POTATO FAMILY, p. 124.
gg. Stamens 4, 2 long, 2 short; flowers of our weeds white
or blue in erect spikes terminating the stems or
branches; leaves opposite. VERVAIN FAMILY, p. 115.
ff. Ovary deeply 4-lobed around the style; fruit separating as
nutlets, those in our weeds mostly armed with barbed
prickles; leaves and stems rough hairy.
BoraceE FAamIty, p. 112.
ee. Corolla irregular, more or less 2-lipped (nearly regular in the
miullens and true mints of the Figwort and Mint Families).
j. Ovary 4-lobed around the style, the lobes ripening into
smooth 1-seeded nutlets; stem 4-sided; leaves simple, op-
posite, when crushed emitting an aromatic odor.
MINT FAMILY, p. 117.
jj. Ovary 2-celled; fruit a many-seeded capsule; stems rarely
4-sided; leaves mostly alternate, not aromatic.
k. Herbs with rather small flowers; stamens mostly 2 or 4
(5 in the mullens) ; seeds borne on a central axis, not
winged. Fiewort FaMIcy, p. 129.
kk. Woody vines with large trumpet-shaped orange flowers ;”
stamens 5; fruit a long pod-like capsule; seeds borne
on the margins of the partition separating its cells,
winged. TRUMPET-CREEPER FAMILY, p. 134.
bb. Corolla thin, dry and membranous, withering on the pod; leaves
of our weeds all basal; flowers in dense spikes on slender leaf-
less flower stalks. PIANTAIN FAMILY, p. 185.
nN
KEY TO FAMILIES OF EXOGEN WéEDS. 49
aa. Ovary inferior or more or less united with the calyx.
1. Flowers not closely bunched into a head which is surrounded by a
leafy involucre; those of our weeds mostly 2-lipped, blue or
bluish ; stems with an acrid and usually milky juice. 8
BELL-FLOWER FAMILY, p. 140.
Wu. Flowers closely bunched into a head surrounded by a leafy in-
volucre.
m. Flowers of head all ligulate or split into flat rays (Mig. 10, Gg);
mostly yellow; juice of stems and leaves milky.
Cutcory FPaMILy, p. 142.
mii. Flowers all tubular or only the outer ones of the head with
rays; juice not or rarely milky. ;
nv. Stamens not united by their anthers into a ring or tube
around the style.
o. Leaves all opposite, their ribs and the flower-stalks
prickly ; heads very large, oblong-cylindrical, with nu-
merous long spiny-tipped awns; flowers all perfect.
TEASEL FAMILY, p. 139.
oo. Leaves alternate, mostly divided or lobed, not prickly;
staminate and pistillate flowers of our weeds in sepa-
rate heads on the same plant, the latter without a
corolla. RAGWEED FAMILY, p. 149.
nn, Stamens united by théir anthers into a tube or ring about
the style; fruit or so-called seed an achene, usually bear-
ing a tuft of hairs or several awns. (Figs. 10, 9; 11, f, 9.)
THISTLE FAMILY, p. 153.
*
* *
The arrangement and names of the weeds listed are mainly
those of Britton and Brown’s ‘‘Iustrated Flora of the Northern
States and Canada.’’ This is a work of three volumes published
by Chas. Scribner’s Sons, N. Y., and is the only systematic botany
in which all species described are figured. Twenty-five of the
illustrations used in this book were taken from it. The others are
from the works of the various authors whose names are mentioned
under the respective figures. ;
At the end of the descriptions will be found a list of the princi-
pal books or papers which have been used in the preparation of
this work, and also a glossary of the more important botanical.
terms which have been used.
The first letter in the parenthesis after the common names of
each weed listed shows whether the plant is an annual (A.), a bi-
ennial (B.) or a perennial (P.). The second letter denotes whether
it is introduced (I.) or native to Indiana (N.). The figure 1, 2 or
3 shows the class to which the weed has been assigned by the
writer, (See p. 12). Thus, 1 denotes that the weed belongs to
Class I., 2 a weed of Class II. and 3 a weed of Class III.
14}
A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF INDIANA
WEEDS.
Tue Grass Fammy—GRAMINEA.
Annual or perennial herbs having the stems (culms) usually:
hollow, their joints closed; leaves alternate, linear and sheathing
the stem, the sheaths split or open on the side opposite the blade;
roots fibrous. Flowers usually in panicled spikes, composed of little
spikes called spikelets; calyx and corolla absent but they and their
involucre represented by chaffy scales or bracts, known as glumes;.
stamens usually 3, anthers attached at middle at the point of the
filament (Fig. 11, d) and swinging loosely thereon, thus enabling
the wind to easily pollenize the hairy or feather-like stigmas;
ovary 1-celled with a single ovule., Fruit a seed-like ‘‘grain.’’
A very large and most important family furnishing the food-
grains (cereals) of man, and the principal food of cattle. About
175 species of grasses are known to grow wild in Indiana, the ma-
jority of them being tufted, turf-forming plants, marked by under-
ground rootstocks which branch and creep beneath the surface of
the soil. Their flower clusters vary greatly in form and size,
ranging from the solid spikes of timothy and foxtail to the loose
and straggling clusters of the panicums and blue-grass. Among
them are many forms which, though at times furnishing grasses for’
stock, are enemies of cultivated crops, being introduced into the
fields by the sowing of their seeds with grain or other grass seeds.
Ten of the worst of these are herewith described as weeds while 5
others are mentioned.
‘‘Grass is the most widely distributed of all vegetable life, and
is at once the type of our life and emblem of our mortality. Lying
in the sunshine among the buttercups and dandelions of May,
scarcely higher in intelligence than the minute tenants of that
mimic wilderness, our earliest recollections are of grass, and when
the fitful fever is ended and the foolish wrangle of the market and
the forum is clesed, grass heals over the sear which our descent into
the bosom of the earth has made, and the carpet of the infant. be-
comes the blanket of the dead. a
‘“‘Grass is the forgiveness of nature—her constant henedictiall
(80)
WEEDS OF THE GRASS FAMILY. 51
Fields trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the
ruts of cannon, grow green again with grass and carnage is for-
gotten. Streets abandoned by traffic become grass-grown like rural
lanes, and are obliterated. Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers
vanish, but grass is immortal. It bears no blazonry of bloom to
charm the senses with fragrance or with splendor, but its homely
hue is more enchanting than the lily or the rose. Should its har-
vest fail for but a single year, famine would depopulate the
world.’’—J. J. Ingalls.
1. ANpDROPOGON vViRGINicus L. Virginia Beard-grass. Broom Sedge.
(P. N. 2.)
Erect in dense tufts, smooth, 2--+
feet high; culms with numerous short
branches, light green when young,
brownish-yellow when mature; leaves
6-12 inches long, acuminate, rough on
the margins. Spikes in pairs or some-
times 3 or 4, about 1 inch long, and
protruding from the side of the in-
flated leaf which surrounds the flower-
stem, the latter slender, jointed and
pubescent with many long spreading
silky hairs; spikelets in pairs, one of
them sessile and perfect, the other
wholly wanting or represented by a
mere scale. Seeds oat-like, $ inch long
with a straight 4 inch awn at tip.
(Fig. 16.)
Common in the southern half of
State and gradually spreading
northward. July—-Sept. Occurs in
poor clayey or sandy upland soil,
‘ ; aa especially on hill slopes where the
Fig. 16. a, a spike; 6, sessile spikelet; c and d,
first and second glumes. (After Scribner.) rocks come close to the surface.
Spreads both by wind-carried seeds
and rootstocks and apt to become a serious pest. Remedies: grub-
bing out the first bunches which appear; burning the land over in
early autumn to destroy the seeds; thorough cultivation; seeding
with clover or cow-peas.
The broom beard-grass (A. scoparius Michx.) is also very com-
mon in dry soils in southern Indiana and becoming frequent north-
ward. It differs in having the joints of the flower-stem. (rachis)
thickened or club-shaped at the ends; the spikes solitary, loose and
distant and the awn of the seed bent at base. Remedies the same.
,
52 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
2. SyNTIIERISMA SANGUINALIS L. Crdb-grass.
Finger-grass. (A. I. 1.)
Suberect or spreading, often rooting
at the lower joints, 1-3 feet long; leaves
smooth or sparitigly hairy, 2-6 inches
long.
cultivated grounds.
ter midsummer in wet seasons one
of the worst of lawn weeds often
erowding out the blue-grass. When
eut or pulled and thrown aside its
stems quickly take root from the
joints and are soon as luxuriant as
before. Dry sandy fields in which
inches long,
Spikes 3-10 in number, linear,
often purplish, 2-6
whorls dnd spreading like fingers from
the top of the ctilm; spikelets in pairs,
4 inch long, one sessile or nearly so, sec:
4 ond seale half as Jong; flowering stem
Uf . flat and winged. Seeds straw-color, 1/10
r \ inch long (Fig. 17.)
in
Abundant in gardens, lawns and
June—Oct. Af.
Fig. 17. a and 6, spikelets; c, flowering melons and other early crops are
: cultivated are often over-run in late
aglume. (After Scribner.)
autumn with this foreign grass.
The small crab-grass (S: linearis
Krock.), differmg in having the
spikelets shorter, 1/12 inch long, the
second scale about as long, the leaves
and stems shorter, is also quite com-
mon in similar places. Remedies:
for lawns, pulling and burning;
clean grass seed; for gardens and
fields, late hoeing and thorough cul-
tivation; burning over in autumn.
3. PANICUM CRUS-GALLI L. Barnyard
Grass. Cockspur Grass. (A. I. 3.)
Stems erect, stout, often branching
at base, 14 feet high; leaves 6 inches
to 2 feet long, rough-margined. Spikes
or branches of the flowering panicle 5
to 15 in number, erect or reflexed ; spike-
lets in 24 rows, green or purple,
crowded on one side of the flowering
stem; glumes of the neutral flowers
glumes.
wn . s
Fig. 18. aand b, spikelets; cand d, flowering,
(After Scribner.)
WEEDS OF. THE GRASS FAMILY. 53
awn-pointed. Seeds § inch long, pale brown, flat on one side, rounded on
the other. (Fig. 18.)
Frequent in barn-yards, orchards and rich moist waste places.
June-Sept. Often ent for forage when other grass is scarce. Seeds
distributed in clover and millet seed, also by wind. Remedies:
mowing before the seeds are ripe; clean clover seed.
4. PANICUM CAPILLARE L. Old-witch Grass. Tumble-weed. Tickle-grass.
(A. N. 2.)
Irrect or suberect, 1-2 feet high,
much branched from the base; sheaths
hispid or hairy; leaves 6-12 inches long,
more or less hairy. Flowers in a
spreading panicle; spikelets, single,
scattered, borne on very slender stalks;
lower glume half the length of the
empty upper one. Séeds straw-color,
very small, smooth and shining. (Fig.
19.)
Common in old cultivated fields,
especially those with a dry or sandy
soil. July—Oct. The spreading tops,
being very brittle, break off in au-
tumn and are blown into fence cor-
ners or against some barrier where
they form great piles. Remedies:
mowing and burning to prevent
seeding. About 30 species of Pani-
cum grow wild in Indiana, all of
Fig. 19. a, b and ¢, spikelets; d, flowering which are more or less weedy in
glume; ¢, palea. (After Scribner.) character, though some of them are
cut for hay when other grass is scarce.
5. IxopHorus eLaucus L. Yellow Foxtail. Pigeon-grass. Pussy-grass.
(A. I. 1.)
Stems several, erect, more or less branched, 1-3 feet high; leaves 2-6
inches long, smooth. Spikes straw-yellow, cylindrical, dense, 1-4 inches
long; spikelets cval, much shorter than the cluster of 6 to 11 yellow
bristles which spring from beneath them, these roughened or barbed un-
ward. Seeds brownish, § inch long, flattened on one side, much wrinkled
crosswise. (Figs. 6, g; 20.)
One of our worst weeds, occurring everywhere in cultivated
grounds; also in meadows, lawns and pastures. July—Sept. The
seeds in grain fields mostly ripen after the corn has been laid by or
the oats and wheat cut. They are much relished by birds and poultry
and are sometimes destroyed by a smut. When buried they retain
54 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
‘their vitality for years, ready te
spring up whenever conditions are
favorable. Remedies: use of clean
State.
seed; smothering when young; mow-
ing and burning stubble, followed by
fall plowing ; cultivation throughout
the scason; sheep grazing in pas-
tures, old fields and the aftermath.
of meadows. A flock of sheep will
soon clean out all the weeds in a corn
field, without injury to the corn, if
turned in for a few days in early
autumn.
The green foxtail or bottle-grass
(I. viridis L.) is a closely allied
species which is also common in the
The spike is green, more
loosely seeded and tapers at the end,
Fig. 20. @ and }, spikelets, a showing the and the bristles are longer and also
bristles which spting from beneath. (After
Caen) greenish. Remedies the same.
6. CENCHRUS TRIBULOIDES L. Sand-bur.
(A. N. 1.)
Suberect or spreading. branching free-
ly, 8 inches to 2 feet long; sheath loose,
compressed; leaves flat, 3-5 inches long,
smooth. Spikelets enclosed, 1 to 5 to-
gether, in a globular bristly or spiny
cover, which hardens and falls off with
them as a rigid bur. (Fig. 21.)
Common in sandy soil throughout
the State. July—Oct. The points on the
spines of the burs have barbs directed
backwards so that the bur sticks very
closely to wool, fur or clothing and
thus distributes far and wide the en-
closed seeds. They are said to be
more injurious in wool than the burs
of any other weed. Old Linneus
must have pricked his finger on one
of the barbed spines when he named
this grass tribuloides. It is a tribula-
tion indeed to barefooted boys. Very
troublesome also is it to wool-growers
Bur-grass. Hedgehog-grass.
Fig. 21. a, bur; 5, the same split to show
the losed = apikeléts; c, spikelet with °
glumes. (After Scribner.)
WEEDS OF THE GRASS FAMILY. 55
Fig. 22. (After Vasey.)
and a great nuisance in hay cut
from sandy soil. Remedies: burn-
ing over annually the area in-
fested ; hoeing or other close culti-
vation.
7. TWRAGRosTISs MAJOR Host. Stinking-
grass. Pungent Meadow-grass.
(A. I. 2.)
Erect or spreading at base, 6 inches
to 2 feet tall, smooth ; leaves 2-7 inches
long; sheaths shorter than the joints.
Flowers in a compound panicle 2-5
inches in length, its branches spread-
ing; spikelets densely 8-35 flowered,
very flat, whitish when old. Seeds
pale red, very small, nearly round.
(Fig. 22.)
A showy ill-smelling grass, oc-
curring in sandy soil, meadows and
waste places. July—-Sept. The flat
lead-colored heads make it easily known. Remedies: prevent seed-
ing by late and thorough cultivation.
‘The low meadow-grass (E. era-
grostis L.) is a closely allied species
with shorter stems and spikes and
narrower spikelets. Also introduced
and spreading rapidly. Remedies
the same.
os
8. BROMUS SECALINUS L. Cheat. Chess
(A. I. 2.)
Erect, unbranched, 1-3 feet tall;
sheaths shorter than the joints; leaves
2-9 inches long. Flowering panicle 2-8
inches in length, glabrous, its branches
drooping; spikelets oblong-ovate, swol-
len, G-10 flowered, the nerves of, the
scales often awned or bristle tipped.
Seeds resembling those of oats but
darker and smaller, § inch long, the ad-
hering glumes with a row of bristles
down each side of the groove. (Fig. 23.)
A winter annual, common in
grain fields and often along fence-
Fig. 23. a, spikelet. (After Scribner.)
rows. June-Aug. The seeds when buried retain vitality for years
.
56 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
and then often spring up where clean seed wheat has been sown,
giving rise to a common belief among farmers that wheat turns
to cheat. Needless to say, the two are very distinct grasses and
each comes always from its own seed. Remedies: preventing. the
seed from ripening by pulling or mowing the cheat; sowing clean
seed of wheat, oats or other cereal; cultivation with hoed crops.
The downy brome-grass or slender chess (B. tectorum L.) oc-
curs in the northern part of the State, and is liable to become a
bad weed. It may be known by its weak stem and somewhat one-
sided downy panicles. The lower empty scale is but 1-nerved.
whereas in cheat it is 38-nerved. Remedies the same.
9. AGROPYRON REPENS L. Couch-grass. Quack-grass. Dog-grass. Devil’s-
grass. (P. I. 1.)
Stems several, 1-8 feet tall, from a long jointed running rootstock:
sheaths smooth; leaves flat, rough above. - Spike 2-8 inches long, not
branched; spikelets in 2 rows, 3-7 flowered, the scales glabrous, acute
or short-awned. Seeds slender, $ inch long, 5-7 nerved and short-awned
at tip. (Big. 24.)
A perennial grass, sometimes cut for hay but in most places
a vicious weed, occurring in grain fields, spreading by its large,
strong creeping rootstocks and
crowding out the grain. June-
Sept. The rootstocks run just be-
neath the surface and are so strong
and unyielding that they have been
known to push their way through a
potato.- Remedies: (a) in culti-
vated fields, shallow plowing in
early autumn, then harrowing to
work the rootstocks free from the
soil, followed by raking and burn-
ing, or if too wet, throwing them
into heaps and allowing them to rot.
A second and deeper plowing, har-
rowing and raking will often be
necessary to thoroughly remove the
deeper growing stocks. Such fall
plowing, followed by thorough cul-
tivation the next season, will usually -
clean out the weed. (6) Shallow.
plowing and harrowing in hot dry weather. (c) Plowing under
Fig. 24. (After Vasey.)
WEEDS OF THE SEDGE FAMILY, af
deeply after the grass has been cut for hay. (d) In lawns, hoe-
cutting and salting, burning or removing every joint.
In Europe these underground stems are gathered and sold, be-
ing used in medicine for kidney and bladder troubles. They are
pale yellow, smooth, about 2 inch in diameter, with joints at in-
tervals of an inch from which slender rootlets are produced. When
washed, cut into short pieces, about 2/5 inch in length, on a hay
or feed cutter and dried, these rootstocks (not the rootlets) are
sold to the drug trade as dog-grass or triticum, the price ranging
from 3 to 7 cents per pound.
10. HorpeuM supatum L. Wild Barley. Squirrel-tail Grass. Skunk
Grass. (P. N. 2.)
Erect, simple, smooth, 10-30 inches
high; sheaths shorter than the joints;
leaves flat, 1-5 inches long, erect, rough.
Spikes terminal, cylindrical, 2-4 inches
long; spikelets in two opposite rows,
usually in 3’s at each joint of the flower-
stem, the central one containing a per-
fect flower, the two side ones imperfect;
the empty scales forming rough awns,
barbed upwards, 1-3 inches long ; awn of
flowering scale 1-2 inches long. Seed
slender, 4 inch long, sharp-pointed, re-
sembling that of rye. (Fig. 25.)
Frequent in old fields and along
fenec-rows and railways in dry and
rather poor clayey or gravelly soil.
July-Sept. It grows usually in large
tufts from fibrous roots and is easily
known by the grayish-green leaves
and long, bearded nodding spikes.
Fig. 25. a, spikelet. (After Scribner.) The barbed seeds and awns often
penetrate the flesh surrounding the mouths of animals which at-
tempt to eat it, causing ulcers, swellings, and, in some instances, to-
tal blindness. Hay containing the grass is therefore almost value-
less. It spreads only by seeds, which are widely scattered by wind
and water, and can be controlled by cutting or pulling before the
seeds ripen, or by cultivation. Isolated clumps should be destroyed
wherever seen.
Tue SEpGE Famtty—CYPERACEZ.
A large family of grass-like or rush-like herbs, but having the
stems slender, generally solid instead of hollow and often either
triangular or 4-sided; leaves grass-like, with the sheaths closed;
58 tie INDIANA WEED BOOK.
roots fibrous. Flowers without petals or sepals, arranged in spike-
lets and ‘usually solitary in the axils of each scale or glume; sta-
mens 1-3; ovary 1-celled, producing a single seed which in fruit
usually forms a three-cornered nutlet called an achene.
About 160 species of the family are known from the State. For.
the most part they grow in damp places, as the borders of streams
and lakes, along ditches and the margins of sloughs They are com-
monly known as_ sedges, cotton-
grasses, spike-rushes, bulrushes, nut-
grasses, etc., and have little or no
economic value. A few of them on
wet prairies and lake margins are
eut for hay, but it is coarse-stemmed
and of poor quality. Occupying
waste places, as they generally do,
they are given little attention by
the farmer, and though many of
them, did they grow in cultivated
ground, are abundant enough to be
called weeds, only a few have a ten-
Ni I dency to spread. Like the grasses,
\ | the sedges are mostly plants of open
“ windswept places or marshy levels,
hy ‘ “yas . cae.
YY) where the facilities for wind fertili-
zation are greatest and more usually’ -
Fig, 26. (After Smith.) present.
11. Cyperus ESCULENTUS L. Yellow Nut-grass. Galingale. (P. N. 3.)
Stems erect, stout, triangular, 1-23 feet tall, shorter than the basal
leaves, which are light green, 1/3 inch wide. Flowers in an umbel with
4-10 branches and involucre of 3-6 leaves; spikelets numerous, straw- .
colored, flat, their flower-stalk narrowly winged; style 3-cleft. Achenes —
obovate-oblong, 8-angled. (Fig. 26.) :
Common in lew eultivated ground which has been recently
drained. July-Oct. Spreads by underground stems bearing small -
pear-shaped tubers, $ inch in length, at intervals of a few inches; .
seeds also carried in hay, and grass seed, and the tubers often on
cultivating tools. The numerous tubers are edible, containing
about 22 per cent. of oil, 28 per cent. of starch and 12 to 21 per
cent. of gum and sugar. The oil when extracted is said to be most ©
excellent for cooking purposes. In rich sandy loams this sedge is
often allowed to grow as a food for hogs, which are turned into
the field in autumn to root up the tubers. Remedies: frequent
WEEDS OF THE RUSH FAMILY. 59
hoeing throughout the season; keep fence rows clean; thick seed-
ing with clover or timothy.
An allied species, the straw-colored sedge (C. strigosus L.) dif-
fering in propagating by solid bulb-like tubers from the base, the
spikes longer and more loose and achenes linear-oblong, is also a
common weed in damp soils. Remedies the same.
THe RusH Famity.—JUNCACE A.
Perennial or annual grass-like herbs, often growing in tufts;
stems usually simple, slender, cylindrical; leaf-blades terete, grass-
like or channeled, the sheaths with free margins. Flowers small,
clustered; sepals and petals 6, chaff-like, without scales or glumes
beneath them as in the two preceding families; stamens 3 or 6;
ovary 1- or 3-celled with 3 stigmas. Fruit a small capsule opening
at the sides; seeds usually numerous.
Only about 25 kinds of rushes are known from the State. They
usually occur on the sandy beaches of lakes or along the borders
of marshes and swamps and resemble sedges but have the parts
of the small flowers in threes, like the lily family, but not showy
as there. Neither the scouring rush nor the tall bulrushes belong
to this family, so that their names are misleading. Only one of
the true rushes is with us to be considered as a weed.
12. JUNCUS TENUIS Willd. Wire-grass. Slender Rush. Yard Rush. (P.N. 3.)
Stems erect. slender, tufted, wiry, 8-20 inches high; true leaves all
basal, flat, linear, half the length of stem; leaf-like bract just below the
fiowering portion Jonger than the latter.
Sepals and petals green, lanceolate, acute,
spreading, longer than the egg-shaped cap-
sule; stamens 6. Seeds narrowly oblong
with oblique ends, very small, delicately
ribbed and cross-lined. (Fig. 27.)
Common in dry or moist soil, espe-
cially along woodland pathways, bor-
ders of fields and roadsides. June—
Aug. The stems are full of elasticity
and after being trodden upon by man
or beast spring erect, apparently un-
: harmed. It is this property of upris-
Fig. 27. Showing fruit and seed. (After ing after adversity which enables the
Britton and Brown.) Z
wire-grass to thrive along the path-
ways and crowd therefrom the more valuable blue-grass which re-
mains down when crushed beneath the heel or hoof. Remedies:
sheep-grazing ; thorough cultivation where found in fields,
60 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
Tue Liny Fammy.—LILIACEA.
Herbs with grass-like leaves, arising usually from bulbs or
corms, rarely from rootstocks or fibrous roots. Flowers solitary or
clustered, perfect, the calyx and corolla colored alike and forming.a
perianth, their six divisions either distinct or more or less united
to form a tube; stamens 6, borne on the tube of the perianth or
at the base of its segments; ovary 3-celled. Fruit a capsule, open-
ing lengthwise.
As above defined the Lily Family comprises about 1,300 species
of widely distributed plants, many of them producing the most
showy and graceful of flowers. The different species of trilliums, '
wake-robins, smilax or green-briers and bellworts, bunch flowers,
ete., have been separated hy modern botanists to form 38 distinct
families, thus greatly decreasing the number formerly included
within its bounds. As a result only about 20 species, belonging to
the family as limited, grow wild in Indiana. These include the
day and wood lilies, wild onions and garlics, adder’s-tongues and
wild hyacinths. Of these but one is common and troublesome
enough to be termed a weed.
13.. ALLIUM vINEALE L. Wild or Field Garlic. Wild Onion. (A. or B. I. 1.)
Stem 1-3 feet high, springing from
an egg-shaped bulb; leaves 2-4, nar-
rowly linear, hollow, terete, channeled
above, borne below the middle of the
flowering stem; the early basal leaves
similar, 4-10 inches long. Flowers nu-
merous, green or purplish, in a ter-
minal erect cluster or umbel, often
wholly or in part replaced by small
bulblets which are tipped by long hair-
like appendages; bracts below the
flowers 2, lanceolate, pointed, soou
falling off; flower stalks much longer
than the flowers. Seeds black, flat,
triangular, 1/16 inch long. (Fig. 28.)
Common in rather thin clayey
soils in southern Indiana. June-
Aug. This weed has a strong
onion-like odor and the numerous
bulblets which it bears, like sets of
common onions at the top of the
ae i ene cuu MET in hiecdan ea ee at
and same enlarged; d, cross-section of leaf. (After be harvested with wheat and spoil
Dewey.) the flour. Where found in pas-
WEEDS OF THE NBETTLE FAMILY. 61
tures cows eat the stems and leaves, which impart their odor to the
milk and butter, and the flesh of animals eating them is also tainted
with the flavor. The bulblets are produced more often than the
seed and must be destroyed or prevented from forming if the garlic
is eradicated. Where the tops are not allowed to produce bulblets
the garlic develops numerous small secondary bulbs or ‘‘cloves’’ at
the base of the old underground bulb. In late autumn thes2 send
up tufts of blue-green shoots which are apparently little injured
by the cold of winter. By spring the small bulbs become as large
as peas and soon develop a flowering stalk. In general both bulbs
and bulblets spread slowly unless scattered by plow or harrow or
some other device of man. ‘
The garlic was first introduced into Indiana near New Ross
with bulbs of the grape hyacinth brought from New York. In
the southwestern part of the State it was brought in by bulblets in
impure wheat and in recent years much complaint cf it has been
made by the wheat growers of the White and Wabash valley re-
gions. Remedies: (@) late fall plowing at such a depth as to leave
as many bulbs as possible close to the surface where they may be
exposed to alternate thawing and freezing, the surviving shoots to
be destroyed by early spring cultivation and the land then sowed
to oats or put in corn. This process repeated for two seasons will
destroy most of the garlic and the remaining plants can be pulled
or treated with strong carbolic acid, a dozen drops of which, ap-
plied by a machine oil can to a bunch of underground bulbs, will
kill them all. (b) Increased liming and fertilization and short ro-
tation of crops, crowding out with clover. (c) In pastures, salting
and sheep grazing. (d) In lawns, applications of carbolic acid.
Tae Nerrie Famiy—URTICACEZ.,
Herbs with watery sap, simple leaves, small greenish flowers
and often armed with stinging hairs. Sepals 2-5, often united;
petals none; stamens as many as the sepals and opposite them;
ovary 1-celled, 1-seeded, when ripe forming an achene.
But six species of the family are listed from the State, five of
which may be classed as weeds, though only two are in places comi-
mon enough to be troublesome. Those which sting have the stems
and leaves provided with peculiar hairs which are hollow, very
sharp-pointed and have swollen bases around which a cluster of
cells form a cup-like gland. When these hairs strike and enter
the flesh their tips are broken off and the glandular cells contract
and inject through them a very irritating acid which produces the
62 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
stinging sensation. This nettle sting is one of the highest devices
by which plants guard themselves against the attack of .animals,
Weeds, or shrubs with juicy tender leaves, are very apt to be
eaten by rabbits, cows, shecp, ete. Many of the wild plants have
therefore developed some means of protection, such as the spines
or prickles of the blackberry, thistle, rose and hawthorne; the bitter
taste or bad smell of hound’s tongue, dog-fennel and catnip; the
many hairs of the mullen, and the acrid or poisonous juice of the
buttercups, poison ivy, spurges and smartweeds. The nettle, how-
ever, is not only defensive but even aggressive in its protection, so
that when any herb-loving animal thrusts his tender nose against
it the sharp points pierce his skin, the liquid is injected into his
veins and he receives a lesson whieh prevents him from ever at-
tempting to devour another plant of its kind. Only three of our
nettles possess these stinging hairs.
14. Unrrica cracitis Ait. Slender Nettle. Tall Nettle. (P. N. 3.)
Stem slender, erect, simple or few
branched, 2-6 feet high; leaves oppo-
site, slender-stalked, ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate, sharply notched. Flowers
small, greenish, borne on slender pan-
icled spikes from the axils of the
leaves; sepals and stamens 4, the flow-
ers dicecious, i. e., male and female
flowers on separate plants. Achenes
very small, oval, 1/20 inch long.
(Fig. 29.)
Frequent im fence-rows and
along borders of cultivated fields,
; ~ especially in moist soil. June—Oct. .
Fig. 29. Showing a flower and fruit. (Afte Stinging hairs few and the plant -
Britton and Brown.) . : 7
spreading hoth by running root-
stocks and seeds. Remedies: mowing in June and again in August;
burning mature plants in autumn; grubbing or cultivation.
15. Urnricastrum DIVARICATUM IL. Wood Nettle. Star Nettle. (P. N. 3.)
Stem rather stout, erect, 2-3 feet high; leaves alternate, thin, ovate,
long-stalked, sharply notched, pointed. Flower clusters large, loose; se-
pals and stamens of male flowers 5, sepals of female flowers 4, unequal.
Achene ovate, flat, oblique, twice as long as the calyx.
Common in dense woods in rich soil and in moist shady places.
July-Sept. Thickly clothed with stinging hairs. Remedies, same
as for preceding species,
WEEDS OF THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 63
Tare BuckwHeEat Famity.—POLYGONACE.®.
Herbs or twining vines with alternate entire leaves, jointed
stems and usually sheathing united stipules just above the swollen
joints. Flowers small, regular, arranged in various forms of in-
florescence; petals none; calyx free, often colored, 2-6 parted; sta-
mens 2-9; ovary l-celled with 2 or 3 styles and a single ovule.
Fruit an achene, usually either triangular or 4-sided, often com-
pressed and winged, usually covered by the persistent calyx.
About 35 species of the family grow wild in the State. Buck-
wheat and rhubarb or ‘‘pie-plant’’ are cultivated members. Our
wild species are known as docks, smartweeds, knotweeds and bind-
weeds, and flourish in various localities. Many of them possess an
acrid juice. The leaves of knotweeds are small and slender while
those of smartweeds are larger and willow-like. The bindweeds
have mostly arrow-shaped or heart-shaped leaves and twining or
climbing stems. To the family belong two or three of our worst
weeds and a number of others which are less troublesome.
16. Rumex ACETOSELLA L. Field Sorrel. Horse Sorrel. Red Sorrel.
Sheep Sorrel. Sour-weed. (P. I. 1.)
Stem slender, erect or nearly se,
6-15 inches high; leaves usually
hastate and mostly from the root on.
long slender stems, 1-4 inches long.
Flowers numerous, dicecious in whorls
of 3-6, nodding and borne on a
naked panicle; calyx reddish-green ;
pistillate flowers tipped with 3 tiny,
crimson feathery stigmas. Fruit
longer than calyx, not margined,
covered with small granules. Seeds
brown, triangular, 1/20 inch long.
(Fig. 30.)
Common in old cultivated
fields, meadows and pastures, es-
pecially those on sloping hillsides
or with a sandy soil. May—Oct.
eaves very sour, often picked
and eaten. Spreading by run-
ning rootstocks as well as by seed
and often crowding out feeble
2 ee | ecw LDS OF other crops. Its pres-
ence usually indicates a poor,
light soil, where little else will grow. This dock should not be
64 THE INDIANA witb BOOK.
confused with the yellow wood sorrel, often called ‘‘sheep-sorrel’? *
(Oxalis stricta L.), which has clover-like leaves and belongs to a
wholly different family. Remedies: use of lime or other fertilizers
which will enable other plants, as clover or grasses, to grow and
crowd out the sorrel; fertilizing and reseeding worn-out pastures
and meadows with clean seed.
17. Ru»ex crispus L. Curled Dock. Sour Dock. Yellow Dock. (P. I. 1.)
Stem rather slender, erect, furrowed, simple or branched above, 1-4
feet high, springing from a long yellow spindle-shaped root; root-leaves
eblong-lanceolate, heart-shaped or obtuse at base, long-stalked and with
wavy-curled margins; those of stem short-stalked and smaller. Flowers
drooping, borne in whorls on a long, leafless wand-like raceme; calyx dark
green, the inner sepals large, heart-shaped, each with a tubercle on the
back. Seeds brown, triangular, smooth, shining, 1/12 inch long.
Common along roadsides, fence-rows, in barnyards, dooryards
and waste places generally. May-Sept. The root-leaves when
young are often used for ‘‘greens’’ but the plant is an eyesore and
a troublesome weed, difficult to eradicate on account of its long
stout roots. Remedies: hand pulling, deep cutting or grubbing
‘before the seed ripens; mowing several times during the season.
In England it is common and is referred to by Shakespeare in
the lines:
“Nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs.”
The phrase ‘‘in dock, out nettle’’ is used as an incantation in
Northern England. If a person is stung with a nettle the affected
part is rubbed with a dock leaf, the phrase being several times re-
peated. The same words are there also much used to denote in-
constancy or sudden change, whence the lines:
“Uneertaine, certaine, never loves to settle,
But here, there, everywhere, in dock, out nettle.”
The roots of this and the next species, when collected in late sum-
mer or autumn, washed, split lengthwise and carefully dried, are
used for purifying the blood and as a remedy in skin diseases.
The price ranges from 2 to 8 cents a pound.
18. RuMex oprusirottius L. Bitter Dock. Broad-leaved Dock. (P. I. 2.)
Resembles the preceding but has the lower leaves broader, ovate, more
heart-shaped at base and the inner sepals with straight spine-tipped teeth
on the margins and only one of them with an oblong tubercle on back.
Seed slightly larger, darker and with a longer beak. (Fig. 31.)
WEEDS OF THE
Fig. 31. (After Vasey—
Common in moist soil,
especially that near the
margins of lakes, ponds
and marshes. July—Oct.
Stems stouter than our
other forms and when old
very hard and _ woody.
Seeds frequent in those of
clover cut from lowlands.
The leaves are often spot-
ted with a reddish leaf-
spot fungus and the heads
are sometimes affected with
a smut which destroys the
seeds. Remedies: mowing
before the seeds have rip-
ened; hoeing, pulling and
cultivating.
20. PoLYGONUM PERSICARIA L.
Lady’s Thumb. Spot-
ted Smartweed. Heart-
weed. (A. I. 2.)
BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 65
Occurs in the same places as
the curled dock, but less common.
June-Aug. The seeds of both these
docks are often found in clover and
alfalfa seed which has not been
properly cleaned. Where found in
cultivated land, both can be eradi-
cated only by short rotation or thor-
ough cultivation with hoed crops.
19. PoLYGONUM PENNSYLVANICUM L.
Pennsylvania Smartweed. Gland-
ular Persicary. (A. N. 2.)
Erect, simple or branched, 2-6 feet
high, the flower stems with numerous
glands; leaves lanceolate, pointed, 2-11
inches long. Spikes several, short, erect,
cylindrical, dense flowered ; calyx dark
pink or rose color, 5-parted. Seeds lens-
shaped, % inch long, dark, shining.
(Fig. 82.)
Fig. 32. Showing the flower opened and spread apart and
the fruit with its two styles. (After Small.)
Stem erect or ascendirg, simple or much branched, glabrous, 6 inche=
to 2 feet high; leaves lanceolate, pointed at both ends, often with a tri-
15)
66 THE INDIANA WHED BOOK.
angular dark spot near the center. Spikes solitary or in panicles, pink
or dark purple, 1-2 inches long, oblong, dense-flowered, erect on smooth
stems. Seeds heart-shaped or triangular, black, smooth, shining, 1/12
inch long.
Common in gardens, barnyards, waste places and cultivated
fields, especially those of moist clover-lands. June—Oct. The name
lady’s thumb is given it on account of the dense oblong reddish
spikes. According to Dr. S. A. Forbes it harbors the corn-root
aphis, the louse appearing with the first leaves of the plant. Rem-
edies, same as for the preceding.
21. PoLYGoNUM HYDROPIPER L. Common Smartweed. Water-pepper. (A,
I. 2.) ’
Stem erect, slender, simple
r branched, often red or red-
dish, 8-24 inches high; leaves
Nanceolate, 1-4 inches long,
‘|marked with pellucid punctures.
Spikes slender, weak, drooping,
1-8 inches long; flowers scat-
tered, greenish-white; stamens
4 or 6. Seeds either lens-shaped
or 3-angled, oblong, opaque or
dull not shining, 4 inch long.
(Fig. 33.)
Abundant in dooryards,
barnyards, upland as well as
lowland cultivated fields,
ditches and borders of ponds.
June—Oct. The leaves are
very acrid and the juice
when applied to the skin
sometimes causes blisters or
ulcers. Remedies: pulling or
Fig. 38. Showing the flower and the fruit with cross- . «
sections of latter. (After Small.) mowing; thorough cultiva-
tion. ;
The mild water-pepper (P. hydropiperoides Michx.), a peren-
nial having the leaves narrower, not punctate, the stamens 8 and
the seed shining, is often found with the preceding, while the
swamp smartweed (P. emersum Michx.), also a perennial with
much broader leaves and only 1 or 2 spikes of flowers, is common
in moist lowlands. Altogether 12 species of true smartweeds are
known from the State, but the five mentioned are the more widely
distributed and the ones likely to be most, troublesome.
WEEDS OF THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 67
22. PoLY@ONUM AvicuULARE L. Knot-grass. Door-weed. Goose-grass. (A.
N. 1.)
Stem prostrate or sub-
erect, slender, dull bluish-
green, 4-18 inches long;
leaves oblong or linear,
4-3 inch long, nearly ses-
sile. Flowers axillary, in
clusters of 1-5, small
short-stemmed, greenish
with white or pink bor-
ders; stamens 5-8. Seeds
dull black, 1/10 inch long,
3-angled and minutely
granular, (Fig. 34.)
Very common, form-
ing mats of spreading,
wiry, jointed stems in
yards and along path-
ways and roadsides
where the ground is
much trodden; also in ~
cultivated lands. June—
Nov. This is one of the
social weeds, such as plantain, burdock, catnip, etc., which accom-
panied the white man in his march across and conquest of the
North American Continent. Holmes refers to it in the lines:
Fig. 34. Showing the flower and fruit. (After Small.)
“Knot-grass, plantain—all the social weeds,
Man’s mute companions, following where he leads.”
An infusion of it was formerly supposed to retard bodily growth
and is referred to by Shakespeare in the lines:
“Get you gone, you dwarf;
You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made.”
The erect knot-grass (P. erectwm I.) is also often found with
the common form. It is erect or ascending, 1-2 feet high and has
the leaves and often the flowers yellowish, the former 1-2 inches
long. Both species are attacked by a mildew and sometimes by a
smut,
Remedies: pulling or mowing before the seeds ripen; thorough
cultivation with hoed crops; cement and concrete walks for yards.
68 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
23 PoLYGONUM CONVOLVULUS L. Black Bindweed. Wild Buckwheat. (A.°
I. 1.)
Tig. 35. Showing the flower and fruit. (After Small.)
Stem twining or trailing, ©
6 inches-3 feet long, roughish,.?
the joints naked; leaves ovate
or arrow-shaped, pointed, long- |
stemmed, 1-3 inches long,
Flowers in loose axillary clus-
ters, greenish-white, drooping; ~
ealyx 5-parted, adhering close-
ly to the achene which is
3-angled, black, granular, dull-
pointed, 4 inch long. (Figs. 6,
a@; 35.)
Common in lowlands, es-
pecially in corn- and wheat-
fields, where it often twines
about and pulls down the
stalks or weeds. June—Sept.
The leaves and seeds are
similar to those of buck-
wheat and the plant is dis-
tributed widely by overflow
of the flood plains and by birds and the droppings of cattle. Rem-.
edies: mowing and burning before the seeds ripen; thorough cul-
tivation with hoed crops; sowing
clean seed; early fall plowing and
harrowing to induce the seeds to
sprout before winter.
24. PoLyGoNuM scANDENS L. Climb-
ing False Buckwheat. Bind-
weed. (P. N. 3.)
Stem climbing, 2-25 feet long,
rather stout, branched. Leaves heart-
shaped, pointed, 1-6 inches long. Flow-
ers greenish-yellow, in numerous inter-
rupted leafy panicles; calyx 5-parted,
the three outer segments strongly
keeled and in fruit winged. Seeds
black, triangular, 1/6 inch long, blunt,
smooth, shining.
Common in moist soil, along
fence-rows, borders of thickets and
cultivated fields, climbing high
over fences, shrubs, brush piles, ete.
July-Oct. The seeds are often
Fig. 36. Showing the fower and three-sided
fruit. (After Small.)
WEEDS OF THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 69
found with those of clover, but are easily separated by proper screen.
ing. Remedies, same as for the preceding.
25. PoLYGoNUM sAGITTATUM L, Arrow-leaved Tear-thumb. (A. N. 3.)
Stem weak, 2-5 feet long, decumbent or climbing by recurved prickles
which are numerous along its four angles; leaves arrow-shaped, pointed,
nearly sessile, the stalks and midribs prickly. Flowers in dense terminai
leads; sepals pale red with whitish margins, not. keeled. Seeds triangular,
dark red, smooth, shining, jinch long. (Tigs. 8, ¢; 86.)
Borders of ditches, ponds and moist places generally. July—
Oct. Mowers and haymakers in low ground are familiar with this
weed, its sharp prickles heing a sufficient excuse for its common
name. Remedies: mowing and burning before the seeds ripen;
draining and cultivation. The halberd-leaved tear-thumb (P. ari-
foliwm L.), differing in the leaves being hastate and the seeds lens--
shaped, occurs with the preceding but is much less common.
THE GoosEgoor F'ammy.—CHENOPODIACEZ.
Annual or perennial weed-like or homely herbs, with mostly
alternate leaves. Flowers small, greenish, very numerous, variously
clustered but usually in panicled spikes or solitary in the axils of
the leaves; petals none; calyx 2-5 parted; stamens as many’as or
fewer than the lobes of the calyx and opposite them; ovary free
from the calyx, 1-celled, 1-seeded.
Fruit a utricle, the seed-vessel be-
ing surrounded by a loose, thin
wall or bladder-like sac. (Fig.
14, d.)}
Only about 16 species of the
family grow wild in Indiana, but
among them are several weeds
which are rapidly spreading or
occur throughout the State. The
beet and spinach are cultivated
members of the family. The com-
mon name, ‘‘ goosefoot,’’ refers to
the shape of the leaves.
26. CHENnopopium aLpuM LL. Lamb's
Quarters. White Goose-foot.
Pigweed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem pale green, often striped
with purple, erect, usually much
branched, 1-8 inches tall; lower
leaves ovate, toothed or lobed; upper lanceolate, often entire; all white-
Fig. 37. (After Vasey.)
70 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
mealy beneath. Flowers in simple or compound terminal and axillary
spikes; lobes of calyx strongly keeled, nearly covering the fruit. Seeds
circular, lens-shaped, black, shining, 1/20 inch in ae (Figs. 6, 6;
14, d; 87.)
Abundant in gardens, yards, waste grounds and cultivated
fields, especially those in which corn, potatoes, ‘etc., have been laid
by. June-Oct. The name pigweed properly belongs to some of
the members of the next family. The young plants and leaves are
in some places used for ‘‘greens.’’ The striped: beet beetle* (Sys-
tena teniata Say), both in the mature and larval stages, feeds upon
it. It is also attacked by several species of fungi and in turn har-
bors the melon lonse. Remedies: thorough and late cultivation
with hoed crops; pulling or mowing and burning before the seeds
ripen; harrowing growing crops of grain when the young cereals
are about 3 inches high.
The maple-leaved goosefoot (C. hybridum L.), leaves without
mealy scales, broad and shaped like a maple leaf, and the upright
or city goosefoot (C. urbicum L.), leaves also without scales, broad,
triangular and truneate at base, both occur frequently in streets,
alleys, waste places and borders of fields. They are usually con-
fused with lamb’s quarters and should receive the same treatment.
A fourth species, as yet listed only from Tippecanoe and Hamil-
ton counties, is the nettle-leaved goosefoot (C. murale L.), also a
European weed, whose leaves are ovate, thin, sharply and coarsely —
cut-toothed, the spikes shorter than the leaves and loosely panicled
in their axils.
27. QOHENOPODIUM AMBROSIOIDES L. Mexican Tea. American Wormseed.
(A. I, 2.)
Stem ascending or erect, grooved, much branched, glandular-pubescent,
strongly scented, 2-8 feet high; leaves oblong or lanceolate, edges undulate
or entire, 14 inches long. Flowers in small dense, leafy axillary clusters;
calyx 3-parted, completely enclosing the fruit. Seeds small, shining,
kidney-shaped.
Frequent in streets, alleys and along river banks in the southern
two-thirds of the State. July-Oct. Remedies the same as for
lamb’s quarters.
The wormseed (C. anthelminticum L.), a closely allied species,
strongly scented and having the spikes in large leafless terminal
panicles, occurs with the Mexican tea and is often confused with it.
The essential oils from the seeds of both this and the Mexican tea
are used as an anthelmintic er vermifuge, hence the, common names
of “‘wormseed.’’ One or the other or both these species are, in
~~ *The No. 2260 ofthe Tndjana Catalogue of Beetles.
WEEDS OF THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY. 71
the vicinity of towns, the prevailing growth along the immediate
sloping banks of the Ohio, Wabash and other streams. The seeds
of both are salable at drug stores, the price ranging from 6 to 8
cents a pound. The oil distilled from the seeds is worth about
$1.50 per pound.
‘
28. ATRIPLEX PATULA L. Spreading Orache. (A. I. 2.)
Stem much branched, half erect, spreading, dark green, glabrous or
somewhat scurfy ; lower leaves lanceolate, slender-stalked, usually toothed
or 3-lobed below the middle; upper ones linear, nearly sessile, often entire.
Flowers in clusters arranged in interrupted leafy spikes, small, greenish,
the two sexes separate; staminate flowers wi'th a 38-5 parted calyx and
the same number of stamens; pistillate ones without calyx, but with 2
more or less united leaf-like bracts at base which partly or wholly enclose
the utricle. Seeds like those of lamb’s quarters.
Frequent along railway em-
bankments, roadsides and in waste
places and old fields, especially
about cities and towns. June-Aug.
This is an Eastern weed which is
gradually spreading westward. In
Indiana it has been recorded from
Steuben, Hamilton, Marion and.
Tippecanoe counties and is very
common about Indianapolis and
Lafayette. The halberd - leaved
orache (A. hastata L., Fig. 38) dif-
fering mainly in having the lower
leaves only once or twice as long
as wide, triangular with pointed
lobes at base, is also recorded from
Wells and Madison counties. Both
form broad masses 1 or 2 feet high
and often several feet in diameter.
They are vile weeds of the same character as lamb’s quarters and
pigweed and when discovered should be destroyed at once. Rem-
edies: pulling or deep hoe cutting before the seeds ripen.
2:
Fig. 38. (After Selby.)
29. SALSOLA TRAGUS L. Russian Thistle. Russian Cactus. (A. I. 1)
Stem bushy-branched, ascending or spreading, 1-3 feet high and twice
as broad, the outer branches and leaves usually bright red when full
grown; leaves when young linear, 2 inches or more in length and 3 inch
wide, spine-tipped; these replaced on the later flowering branches by
sharp stiff spines in clusters of 3. Flowers purplish, solitary in the axils,
with a spiny bract each side; calyx membranous, very strongly veined.
72 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
Seeds light yellow, conical, about the size of clover seed and usually
covered with a gray coating. (Fig. 39.)
Oceurs sparingly in the north-
ern third of the State; there in-
troduced by the trunk-line rail-
ways from the northwest, where
it is a very troublesome weed in
prairie grain fields. July—Sept.
It is a tumble-weed, not a thistle,
and when full grown becomés
very large and spreading, form-
ing a.top from 2 to 6 feet in dia-
meter. When broken off it is
rolled over and over by the wind,
scattering far and wide its many
seeds. Remedies: pulling, spud-
ding or uprooting before seeding;
cultivating hoed crops until Au-
gust; burning wheat stubble and
> other areas where it grows; sow-
soft, 32, ox rang of theatre plat: eee Ing forage crops and peaturing
front % seed; iA embryo removed from the seed. with sheep. Farmers living along
iia railways should keep an especial
lookout for the Russian thistle and should destroy at once every
strange weed which bears any resemblance to the description given. .
It is estimated that a single specimen produces from 20,000 to 30,-
000 seeds, so that if only one matures its seeds the farmers for
miles around will suffer in a year or two.
THE AMARANTH Famitry—AMARANTHACE AI,
Homely herbs with alternate or opposite simple leaves. Flow-
ers: small, green or white, variously clustered, usually in terminal
spikes or axillarv heads and differing from those of the preceding
family in being surrounded by thin dry and membranous per-
sistent bracts which are often colored; petals none; calyx 2-5
parted, the parts usually distinct; stamens 1-5, mostly opposite
the calyx lobes; ovary 1-celled. Fruit a utricle of which the cap
comes away as a lid or bursts irregularly. (Fig. 14, e.)
Only 11 species of the family are known from the State, all of
which are weeds of high or low degree. The showy coxcomhs,
prince’s feathers and ‘‘love lies bleeding’’ of the flower gardens
are cultivated representatives. The name Amaranthus means
WEEDS OF THE AMARANTH FAMILY. 73
‘never fading’’ and was given these flowers by the Greeks on ac-
count of the dry: unwithering nature of the showy bracts. In
Europe they are regarded as emblems of immortality, a quality set
forth by Milton in the lines wherein he speaks of the angels as-
sembled before the Deity :.
“To the ground,
With solemn adoration, down they cast
Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold.
Immortal amaranth, a flower which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom.”
30. AMARANTHUS RETROFLEXUS L. Rough Pigweed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem stout, branched, light green, erect or ascending, 1-S feet high
from a pink tap-root; lower leaves ovate, long-stemimed, the upper lanceo-
late. pointed. Flowers green in dense sessile, terminal or axillary spikes
which are often 3 inch thick; bracts awl-shaped, twice as long as the 5
oblong, spine-tipped sepals. Fruit or utricle thin, slightly shorter than
the sepais, the top falling away as a lid. Seeds very small, round, lens-
shaped, dark brown, smootb and shining.
Abundant throughout the State in gardens, waste places and
cultivated fields. July—Oct. Occurring with the rough pigweed
in gardens, and perhaps more com-
mon, is the slender pigweed or red-
root (A. hybridus L., Fig 40.) It is
also known as careless weed and dif-
fers in having the stem more slender,
often purplish, and springing from
a spindle-shaped purplish root, the
leaves smaller, bright. green, wavy
margined and long stalked, and the
spikes much more slender, not over
4 inch thick. somewhat spreading or
drooping. Both species are often at-
tacked by a white mold that also at-
tacks beets. The seeds of both ripen
in early autumn, occur with those of
grain and grass, and are blown far
and wide over the snow. Remedies:
shallow cultivation ; thorough removal
Fis. 40. 2 and 3, flowers; 4, utricle closed; before seeding of the weeds in corn
5, same with lid off. (After Vasey.) and potato fields and gardens; burn-
ing or pulling the sced-bearing plants from waste places, and
from fields before fall plowing.
74 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
31. AmMaARANTHUS sPINosus L. Spiny
Amaranth. Red or Spiny Careless
Weed. / Soldier-weed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem more branched and spreading,
14 feet high, often becoming red in age;
leaves with a pair of stiff, sharp spines,
3-1 inch long, in the axils. Flowers in
both axillary clusters and terminal droop-
ing spikes. Seeds round, lens-shaped,
dark, very small, shining. (Fig. 41.)
Common in waste places, borders
of fields, alleys and roadsides in the
southern two-thirds of the State.
June-Oct. Occurs especially in and
near towns and cities along the Ohic
and Wabash rivers Remedies the
same as for the common pigweeds.
32. AMARANTHUS BLITOIDES Wats. Pros-
trate Pigweed. Low Amaranth.
(A. I. 2.)
Stem prostrate or spreading, pale
green, 6-24 inches long; leaves spoon-
shaped or narrowed below into slender stalks. Flowers of this and the
next species in small axillary clusters which are shorter than the leaf-
stalks; bracts awl-shaped, but little longer than the sepals. Fruit a utricle
opening by a lid as in the other species. Seeds rounded, lens-shaped, 1/16
inch in diameter, dark brown, shining.
Fig. 41. (After Vasey.)
Frequent along railways and in waste places in cities and
towns. June—Oct. Spreading like purslane and often forming
mats. Remedies the same.
33. AMARANTHUS GRzcIzANs L. Tumble-weed. White Pigweed. (A. I. 1.)
Stem erect, bushy branched, whitish, G-24 inches tall; leaves oblong,
spoon-shaped, slender stalked. Flowers as in the prostrate pigweed, the
bracts much longer than the sepals. Seeds one-half as large and with a
distinct wing-like border.
Frequent throughout the State along roadsides, railways and in
old fields. June-Oct. The leaves fall away in autumn and the
branches bend in, forming a globular mass which is broken off and
rolled along before the wind, thus widely scattering the seeds. One
such weed, 5 feet 7 inches in circumference, was seen in Vigo
County. From the Russian thistle, which has similar habits of
seed distribution, this true tumble-weed may be known by its much
wider leaves aud small, round and shining seeds. Remedies the
same as for the rough pigweed.
WEEDS OF THE POKEWEED FAMILY. 75
THE PoKeweEeED F'amiy.— PHYTOLACCACE AL,
Tall perennial herbs, with large alternate ovate-oblong leaves
and small flowers in terminal racemes, which by the farther growth
of the stem become opposite the leaves. Petals none; sepals 4 or 5
white; stamens 10; ovary green, 10-celled, each cell with a single
seed. Fruit a globose fleshy berry.
Only one member of the family occurs in Indiana, though 85
species are known, mostly from the tropics.
84. PHYTOLACCA DECANDRA L. Pokeweed. Poke-berry. Scoke. Pigeon-
berry. Ink-berry. (P. N. 2.)
Stem stout, smooth, erect, branching, 3-12 feet high ; leaves entire,
5-12 inches long. Berries in racemes like those of a grape, dark purple
and filled with crimson juice. Seeds black, shining, roundish or kidney-
shaped. (Fig. 42.)
This large well known weed occurs throughout the State in rich
soil along the borders of old fields, fence-rows, roadsides, ete. June—
Sept. Its reddish-purple stems,
dark green leaves, clusters of
white flowers and dark purple
berries make of it a handsome
weed—if a weed can be so
termed. I have often found
the small, shining black seeds
beneath logs and stones where
they have been-carried by mice
or shrews, and have frequently
mistaken them for the heads of
dead beetles. The stem springs
from a large poisonous root,
often 4-6 inches in diameter,
and the young stems and
leaves are sometimes used for
ereens or eaten like asparagus.
Tf so used, care should be ta-
Fig. 2. ‘slawerial and fruiting branch. (After ken to separate all parts of the
Cheanut) root and the water, in which
the shoots are first boiled, should be rejected. The whole plant
has a strong unpleasant odor and the pith of the hollow stem is in
flat disks separated from each other by cavities. Remedies: grub-
bing or cutting below the top of the root; repeated mowing and
salting.
76 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
Both roots and berries of the pokeweed are used in medicine,
A Kentucky boy whom the writer knew ate the berries for cramp
in the stomach, claiming that they were a certain cure. If gathered
for sale they should be collected in autumn and the clusters of
berries dried in the shade, while the roots should be cleaned, cut
crosswise into slices and carefully dtied. They act upon the
bowels and eause in time violent vomiting. Extracts made from
them are used for iteh, other skin diseases and rheumatism. The
dried root brings from 2 to 5 cents and the berries about 5 cents
per pound,
THE CARPET-WEED Famity.-—AIZOACEA.
Prostrate and branching herhs, with small whitish flowers
berne in the axils of the whorled leaves. Petals none; calyx
5-parted; stamens 3-5; ovary 3-
celled, forming in fruit a capsule
which splits lengthwise. Seeds very
small, kidney-shaped. and marked
with lines.
35. MoLLuco verTicitLata L. Carpet-
weed. Indian Chickweed. (A.
“N. 2.)
Stem spreading and forming circu-
lar mats, sometimes 2 feet in diameter;
Ni i) rN leaves in whorls of fives or sixes,
Y= spoon-shaped or linear, entire. Sepals
— NSS oblong, white on the inner side, shorter
Fig. 43. Showing a flower and a cross-section than the egg-shaped capsules which are
of fruit. (After Britton and Brown.) -many seeded. (Fig. 43.)
Frequent in bare sandy spots, cultivated fields and gardens, and
springing from the cracks between bricks in sidewalks. May—Oct. :
Remedies: pulling or hoe-cutting before the seeds ripen; sowing
winter annuals after corn and potatoes.
Ti Pursbane Famiry—PORTULACACE.A.
Fleshy tasteless herbs with entire leaves. Flowers regular,
sepals 2; petals 4 or 5; stamens 5-20; styles 2-8 united below the
middle. Pod 1-ceiled, with few or many seeds rising on stalks
from the base. Only 6 species of the family are listed from the ©
State, two of which, called “‘spring beauties,’’ are among the earli-
est and prettiest of our springtime wild flowers. Here belongs also
the cultivated portulaca and the following common garden weed:
WEEDS OF THE PURSLANE FAMILY. 7
26. PorruLac, oteracza L. Purslane. Pussley. (A. L. 1.)
Prostrate, smooth, freely branching from a deep central root; branches
4-10 inches long; leaves alternate, wedge-shaped, rounded at apex. Flow-
ers pale yellow, sessile in the axils. Pods globular, opening by a little lid.
Seeds very small, black, kidney-shaped, marked with a fine network.
(Pigs. 13, ¢; 44.)
Very common in gardens, dooryards and cultivated grounds,
especially in sandy and rich soils. May-Nov. Flowers numerous,
opening only in the
morning sunshine, then
closing once for all. In
England purslane is used
extensively as a pot-herb
and for salads, and serves
as does parsley to garnish
dishes of meats, etc.
Ilogs everywhere are
very fond of it. It is at-
tacked by a white mold
which in rainy seasons
serves to keep it in check.
Beneath its fleshy foliage
it harbors insects of
many kinds, among
which are the melon
plant louse and the corn-
root louse. Onion and
Fig. 44. 1, seed; 2, fruit or pyxis closed; 3, same open. melon raisers have much
(After Vasey.) : : :
tronble with it, as it
grows rapidly and ripens its seeds after cultivation of the crops
has ceased. Remedies: close hoe cultivation, especially very early
and again late in the season; seeding with winter annuals after
hocd crops.
Tue PinK Famity.—CARYOPHYLLACEA.
Annual or perennial herbs with the joints of the stems often
swollen and sometimes sticky; leaves opposite, entire. Flowers
usually either solitary on long peduncles or numerous in fiat-
topped cymes; sepals 4 or 5, separate or united into a tube; petals
as many as the sepals or none; stamens twice as many as sepals or
fewer; pistils 1, 1-celled, the ovules united to a central column.
Fruit usually a capsule opening by valves on the sides.
78 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
About 30 species of the family grow wild in the State, and
mostly belong to two groups, -VizZ. : (a) the cockles which have the
sepals united into a tube, many of them being also called ‘‘catch-.
flies,’’ on account of the sticky or viscid secretions on joints of
stems or calyx which they exude to prevent ants, small beetles and
other honey-eating intruders which cannot pollenize from creep-
ing up the stalks; (b) the chickweeds and sandworts, small white-
flowered herbs abundant in woods and along the margins of lakes
and streams, and having the sepals distinct or united only at the
base. With us only 4 members of the family are as yet trouble-
some. :
87, AgRosTeEMMA airHago L. Corn Cockle. Purple Cockle. (A. I. 1.)
Stem erect, 1-3 feet high, simple
or with few erect branches, clothed
with long, soft appressed hairs; leaves
linear, acute. Flowers solitary on long
axillary peduncles; petals pink or
purple-red, showy; calyx lobes linear,
much longer than the petals. Seeds
black, kidney-shaped, %$ inch across,
prettily marked with spiny ribs. (Fig.
45.)
Common in grain fields, espe
cially those of wheat and rye; alss
along railways, fence-rows, ete.
May-Sept. The seed contains a
poisonous principle, and if bread
be made of flour containing a high
percentage of the ground seed it is
animals, and in man produces 4
Fig. 45. a, sprays showing fl d wri i j 1]
seat eae y eae eee ere great irritation of the digestive or-
(After Chesnut.) gans. Remedies for the weed:
hand pulling or spudding from the wheat fields intended for seed;
careful screening of seed wheat, using a screen of 8 meshes to the
inch; proper rotation of crops.
38. SILENE ANTIRRHINA L. Sleepy Catchfly. Tarry Cockle. “(A. N. 2.)
Stem slender, erect or ascending, simple or branched above, 8-80
inches high; basal and lower leaves spoon-shaped, narrowed into a stalk.
1-2 imches long; upper leaves linear and gradually reduced to awl-shaped
bracts. Flowers in a loose terminal eluster; calyx egg-shaped, much en-
larged by the ripening pod,. its teeth acute; petals pink, broader and
notched above. Seeds dark brown, kidney-shaped, marked with rows of
minute tubercles. ai, j
often fatal to poultry and domestic:
WEEDS OF THE PINK FAMILY. 719
Frequent in light or sandy soils, especially in grain fields or
waste places. Apr.—Sept. The stem is dark and viscid or sticky at
or just below each joint and the flowers open for a short time only
in sunshine. The seeds are frequent among those of clover or
grass and in southwestern Indiana the plant is very common in
wheat and rye. Remedies: sowing clean seed; pulling when not
too common, to prevent the ripening of the seed; increased fertili-
zation.
The sticky cockle or night-flowering catchfly (S. noctiflora. L.)
having 3 styles and large yellowish-white or pinkish petals, and the
white cockle or white campion (Lychnis alba Mill.) with 5 styles
and pure white petals, are two other members of the family re-
corded from the State which may develop into troublesome weeds,
as they have done elsewhere. Both have sticky stem-joints and
large blossoms which open only at night.
‘In addition to the sticky gum the stem of these catchflies is
more or less covered with fine hairs, both of which characters aid
them in baffling unwelcome wingless visitors, while the long tubes of
the corollas effectually keep out all flying insects except the few
whose visits the plants desire. As if so many precautions were not
enough the mouths of the tubes above the stamens are obstructed
by five little valves or scales, one being attached to the claw of each
petal. These scales can be easily bent down by the large and long
proboscis of bees and moths but not by the little thieving flies
against. whose incursions the flowers are so anxious to guard them-
selves.’’—Grant Allen.
29. SaPONARTA OFFICINALIS L. Bouncing Bet. Soapwort. Hedge Pink.
(FP. I. 2.)
Erect, smooth, sparingly branched, 1-2 feet high; leaves ovate or oval,
2-3 inches long, 1 inch wide. Flowers large, showy, pinkish or white, in
dense terminal clusters. Seeds black, smooth, kidney-shaped with a beak
1/16 inch long. (Fig. 10, a.) es
Throughout the State, escaped from gardens and rapidly be-
coming an annoying weed, especially in sandy cultivated fields and
along banks and railways. June-Sept. This buxom country
cousin of the carnation spreads by underground stems and is
therefore difficult to eradicate. The juice of the stem, when mixed
with water, produces a soapy effect and has cleansing qualities,
whence the generic name. -Remedies: mowing twice each season
for a year or two just before flowering; salting in early. spring;
cultivation, especially hoeing,
80 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
40. ALSINE MEDIA L. Common Chickweed. (A. I. 2.)
Spreading or half erect, tufted, much branched, 4-12 inches long.
smooth except a line of hairs along the stem; leaves oval, 4 to 23 inches
long, the upper sessile. Flowers very
small, white, the petals 2-parted, shorter
than the calyx. Capsule egg-shaped,
longer than the calyx; seeds brown,
kidney-shaped, flattened, 1/24 inch
across, the sides coarsely tuberculate.
- (Figs. 12, h and 46.)
Frequent in rich moist soil in
gardens, lawns, meadows and _ pas-
tures. Jan—Dec. A winter annual,
blooming at all seasons. In some
places used as a barometer as it ex-
pands its flowers fully when fine
weather is to follow but ‘“‘if it
should shut up, then the traveler is
Fig. 46. "Bhavwing flower, fruit and seed. to put on his great coa 2? In Eu-
Uses RE ED rope it is much used for feeding
cage-birds, which are very fond of both seed and leaves. Remedies:
early and thorough spring cultivation; reseeding lawns; crowd-
ing out by some winter-growing crop, as rye or crimson clover.
Tis Crow¥voct orn Burrercup Famiry.—RANUNCULACEA.
Annual or perennial! herbs with acrid sap; leaves usually alter-
nate, often compound. Flowers with the parts all distinet and
unconnected; petals 3-15, sometimes wanting, in which case the
ealyx is colored like the corolla; sepals the same number, often
falling when unfolding; stamens numerous; ovaries 1-many, 1-
celled, usually 1-seeded. Fruit of our weeds an achene. (Fig,
14, f, g:)
About 50 species of the family occur.in Indiana. Among them
are many of our common wild flowers of early spring and summer,
2s the liverworts, marsh-marigolds, larkspurs, columbines, bane-
berries, anemones, clematis, buttercups and meadow-rues. Most of
these are harmless plants, covering the bare places of mother earth
with their green leaves and posies gay. With us only one may as
yet be listed as a weed, though others of its kind occasionally
spread in low, wet pastures.
41. RANUNCULUS ABoRTIVUS L. Small-flowered Crowfoot. Kidney-leaved
Crowfoot. (B. N. 3.)
Stem erect, branching, glabrous; root-leaves thick, kidney- or heart- |
WEEDS OF THE CROWFOOT FAMILY, 81
shaped, long-stalked, toothed or crenate; stem leaves sessile, divided into
3-5 oblong or linear loves. Flowers very small; petals yellow, oblong,
shorter than the reflexed lobes of calyx.
Tiead of fruit globose.
Common in moist soil, in woods,
meadows, gardens, lawns and culti-
vated fields. March-Sept. Espe-
cially troublesome to strawberry
growers and owners of well kept
lawns. Remedies: pulling and hoe
cutting; drainage; thorough culti-
vation.
The hooked erowfoot (R. recur-
vatus Poir.), having the. kidney-
shaped leaves all lobed and divided,
the plant more or less pubescent and
the beaks of the achenes strongly
hooked, is also common in woods and
pastures. The tall or meadow but-
tercup (&. acris L., Fig. 47), with
the flowers large, showy yellow, 1
Fig. 47. Tall or meadow buttercup. (After : ;
Vasey.) inch broad, calyx spreading and
roots fibrous, occurs frequently in moist meadows and pastures and
is in some States a pernicious weed. Its juice is very acrid and
stock give it a wide range. Remedies the same.
Tue Mustarp Famity.—CRUCIFER2.
Herbs, mostly annual or biennial, with a pungent peppery
juice; leaves alternate, usually narrow and deeply lobed, often
forming a rosette at the surface of the ground, from which spring
the slender flower-bearing stems. Flowers usually in racemes,
white or yellow in color; sepals 4; petals 4, generally narrowed at
base and placed opposite each other in pairs; stamens usually 6,
4 long, 2 short; pistils 1, 2-celled. Fruit a silique which varies
greatly in form and size and bears numerous seeds. (Fig. 14, 7.)
About 55 species of the family are known from the State, most
of which are weeds. They may usually be easily recognized by the
sepals and petals being in fours, in opposite pairs, thus forming a
cross—whence the family name Crucifcre. On the long racemes
the flowers are usually to be found in all stages, from the unopened
buds above to the ripened seed-pods below. When crushed the
feliage often gives off a decided odor, Those which are -weeds
(6]
82 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
eceur mostly in grain fields, gardens, lawns and meadows. Many
of the seeds have an oily covering which prevents decay and enables
them to retain vitality for years. Cultivated members are cabbage,
turnip, cauliflower and radish.
42. L&ePIDIUM VIRGINICUM L. Wild Pepper-grass. Tongue-grass. Canary-
grass. (A. N. 2.)
Erect, smooth, much branched, 6-15 inches high; leaves tapering to
base, the upper linear or lanceolate, entire; lower spoon-shaped, more or
less notched on sides. Flowers small, white; stamens only 2. Pods
small, rounded or oval, notched at tip; seeds light brown, flattened, 1/10
inch wide, half as long, egg-shaped with a very distinct border. (Fig. 48.)
Common everywhere in dooryards, waste grounds, fields and
gardens. April-Oct. Very troublesome at times in clover, espe-
cially in light sandy soil after the
first crop is cut; the seeds separable
from those of the clover only by care-
ful screening. Many of the seeds
germinate in autumn forming flat. ro-
settes with a single central tap-root,
from which the flowers and seeds of
early spring are produced. Spar-
rows of all kinds are very fond of
the pods and eat vast numbers of
them. Remedies: thorough and con-
tinuous cultivation; dise harrowing
in late fall or early spring ; hand pull-
ing from lawns; spraying.
4 The apetalous pepper-grass (L.
faitkad omic seta’ tant antes apetalum Willd.), basal leaves more
and Hoyas) eut-lobed and petals minute or want-
ing, and the field pepper-grass (L. campestre L.), downy or hoary
pubescent, leaves clasping the stem, pod spoon-shaped, both occur
in the State and will be more common. Remedies the same.
43. SISYMBRIUM OFFICINALE L, Hedge Mustard. (A. I. 2.)
Erect with rigid spreading branches, 1-3 feet high; leaves cut-lobed,
the lower segments turned backward, the upper leaves nearly sessile.
Flowers small, pale yellow. Pods slender, erect, awl-shaped, 4 inch long,
pressed closely against the stem; seeds brown, oblong, cylindrical on back,
grooved on the other side, 1/16 inch long, one-third as wide.
Common in waste places and fallow or abandoned fields. April-
Dec. The seed occurs in clover and grass seed and hay. Remedies:
frequent mowing; increased fertilization and cultivation, It, as.
WEEDS OF THE MUSTARD FAMILY. 83
well as the next two species, are hosts for the ‘‘club-root fungus’’
which attacks cabbage and turnips and all three should therefore
tty Prats be kept away from these vege-
al . f tables.
I < Differing in having cream
colored flowers and much longer,
widely spreading pods is a
closely allied species, the tum-
bling mustard (8. altissimam
L., Fig. 49), a European plant
which is a bad weed in the
grain fields of Canada and the
Northwestern States. In Indi-
ana it has been recorded from
six counties and will doubtless
be found to be frequent in the
northern portion, especially
along the trunk line railways.
The pods are 2-4 inches long
7 and each one contains 120 or
pare fe immbling mustard: a, hase of stem of sonal more seeds, On a single plant
branch with flower and pods. (After Dewey.) 12,500 pods were once counted,
so that that plant alone produced 1,500,000 seeds. When the seeds
are ripe the whole head of the plant breaks off and, as a tumble-
weed, it may in winter be blown for miles, scattering a few seeds
in many places. It is liable to be introduced anywhere in baled
hay, and is especially liable to be found about elevators and railway
yards. Isolated plants should be pulled. before the seeds ripen. If
‘in numbers they should be mowed or cut with hoe in June and
again in August.
44. BRASSICA ARVENSIS L. Charlock. Wild Mustard. (A. I. 1.)
Erect, branching above, 1-2 feet high; rough with scattered stiff
hairs; lower leaves stalked, cut-lobed; upper.ones mostly sessile, feebly
notched or entire. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Pods long, cylindrical,
knotty, borne on stout stems and with a long two-edged beak which is
empty or 1-seeded; seeds 15 or more in a pod, spherical, larger than those
of the black mustard. (Fig 50.)
Frequent in the southern half of State, less so in northern
counties. May—Sept. Occurs in meadows and grain fields, espe-
cially those of oats, the seeds remaining with them when threshed.
The seeds have great vitality, often remaining buried for years or
until conditions are right for successful growth. It grows very
84
THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
rapidly and matures an immense number of seeds. Remedies:
clean seed; surface burning in fall or spring; hand pulling and
ERSteweotl dt,
cultivation of hoed crops; spraying
with iron sulphate (copperas) solu-
tion; harrowing stubble as soon as
crop is cut to start a rapid autumn
growth of the weed, then feeding off
with sheep; harrowing young wheat
in autumn after it has a good start.
45. BRAsstcA NickRA L. Black Mustard.
(A. I. 3.)
Erect, tall, 2-7 feet high, prickly with
short stiff hairs; lower leaves with a
large terminal and 2-4 smaller lateral
lobes. Flowers yellow. Pods erect, closely
appressed to stem, 4-sided, smooth, } inch
long, ending in a slender beak; seeds dark
brown, very pungent, 1/25 of an inch
Fig. 50. (After Vasey.)
Common in fields and waste places.
as for charlock.
The seeds of both this and the
white mustard (Sinapts alba L.) when
ground are used extensively in medi-
cine for plasters, poultices, emetics,
etc. More than 5 million pounds are
imported each year, the price aver-
aging about 5 cents per pound. The
white mustard is a smaller plant, 1-2
feet high, flowers larger and paler yel-
low, the pods rough-hairy, with long,
flat sword-shaped beaks; seeds pale
yellow, smooth, larger and less pun-
gent than those of the black mustard.
In collecting the seeds for sale the
tops should be pulled when most of
the pods are ripe but before they be-
gin to burst open, placed on a clean
dry floor or shelf until: fully ripe,
then shaken over a sheet or canvas.
long, globular, finely pitted. (Fig. 51.)
June-Nov. Remedies same
Fig. 51. (After Henkel.)
46. BURSA BURSA-PAsToRIS L, Shepherd’s Purse. Mother’s Heart. (A. I, 1.)
Erect, branching, 6-20 inches high; lower leaves tufted, forming a
rosette, cut-lobed or toothed like those of the dandelion; stem leaves few,
WEEDS OF THE MUSTARD FAMILY. 85
arrow-shaped. Flowers small, white. Pods heart-shaped or triangular,
broad at top, notched at apex then narrowed to base, borne on slender
stalks; seeds numerous, light brown, oblong, 1/20 inch in length, half as
wide. (Fig. 52.)
Common everywhere in waste places, gardens and old cultivated
fields. March 10-Nov. 25. A winter annual whose green rosettes
are véry pretty at that season, but
whose spreading stems become an
eyesore in early spring. It is also
a host for the elub-root fungus. At
all times of the year and every-
where, when it is not actually freez-
ing, this plant is growing. Each
pod contains about 20 seeds. When
put in water they, as well as those
of most other mustards, produce a.
large. amount of mucilage and a
covering of rather long and very
fine transparent hairs. This, by ad-
hesion to passing objects, aids in
their distribution. A single plant
will ripen 20,000 of the seeds, so
that it has enormous power of
propagation. It will: thrive any-
where, sometimes taking entire
Fig. 62. a, seed natural size; b, same X 6. (After POSSession of the soil from which it
Palys) draws a large amount of moisture.
Remedies: constant hoeing and cultivation; hand pulling from
lawns; plowing or disk harrowing in late autumn; spraying with
iron sulphate solution; cutting out the fall rosettes with hoe or
spud.
The name ‘‘mother’s heart’’ is common in England. The chil-
dren hold out the seed pouch to their companions inviting them to
‘‘take a haud o’ that.’’ It immediately cracks, and then follows
the triumphant shout ‘‘you’ve broken your mother’s heart.’’ In
Switzerland the same plant is offered to a person with the request.
to pluck one of the pods. Should he do so the onlookers exclaim:
“vou have stolen a purse of gold from your father and mother.’’
THe Rose Famity—ROSACEA,
Herbs, shrubs or trees with regular perfect flowers; leaves al-
ternate, simple or compound, with stipules usually:present. Calyx
5-lobed with the dise of the flower firmly attached ; petals equal in
86 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK.
number to the calyx lobes and distinct, or none; stamens numerous, .
distinct; ovaries 1-many, 1-celled. Fruit of various forms, mostly
capsules opening by a single valve, or achenes.
A large and important family which formerly included the
apples, pears, cherries, etc. Recently, however, it has been divided
into three families, the Rosacee as above restricted ; the Pomacen,
including the apples, pears, June-berries and red-haws; and the
Drupaces, comprising the plums, cherries and peaches. To the
Rosacee, as now defined, belong the meadow-sweets, raspberries,
blackberries, strawberries, cinquefoils, avens, agrimonies, roses and
many other forms. About 50 members of the family are known to
grow wild in Indiana, but only a few of them intrude upon culti-
vated or pasture lands in such numbers as to be called weeds, and
of those which do none belong to the weeds of the first class.
47. RUBUS ALLEGHENIENSIS Porter. Wild Blackberry. Common Brier.
Bramble. (P. N. 3.)
Shrubby, branched, erect or recurved, 3-10 feet high, armed with
stout recurved prickles; leaves compound; leaflets 3-5, ovate, pubescent
beneath, coarsely toothed. Flowers white, terminal. Fruit a collection of
small black drupes persistent on a fleshy receptacle, broadly oval, very
pulpy.
This and several closely allied species of high blackberries are
found throughout the State, being much more abundant on the hill
slopes of the southern half. They occur mostly in poor clayey soil
along roadsides, fence-rows and in old neglected fields and pastures,’
often taking complete possession of the ground. It is only where
by neglect the bushes are allowed to spread that they become a nui-
sance and crowd out the blue-grass and other forage crops.