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/ DOMINION OF CANADA ^

I DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BRANCH OF THE SEED COMMISSIONER

Farm Weeds of Canada

BY

GEORGE H. CLARK, B.S.A.,

AND

JAMES FLETCHER, LL.D., F.R.S.C., F.L.S.,

f

I

WifA Illustrations by Norman Criddle

SECOND EDITION

Revised and Enlarged by George H. Clark

Published by Direction of

The Hon. Sydney A. Fisher, Minister of A^culture,

Ottawa, 1909

.FOR SALE, BY SINGLE COPIES ONLY,

AT THi: OFFICE OF

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF STATIONERY,

GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU, OTTAWA.

Price $L00.

(d/3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Preface 5

Introductory 7

What is a Weed ? 8

Losses due to Weeds 8

How Weeds Spread 10

Classification of W' eeds 10

Weed Seeds in the Soil 12

Control and Extermination of Weeds 13

General Principles 15

Summer Fallowing 15

Short Rotation of Crops 17

Sheep Destroy W^eeds 18

Seeding to Grass 18

Farm Implements to Destroy Weeds 19

Weed Seeds in Commercial Seeds and Feeding Stuffs 21

Grass Family 22

Sedge Family 39

Rush Family 40

Buckwheat Family 40

Spinach or Goosefoot Family 50

Pigweed Family 56

Pink Family 59

Purslane Family 73

Buttercup Family 75

Fumitory Family 77

Mustard Family 77

Caper Family 102

Orpine Family 103

Rose Family 103

Pea Family 107

Spurge Family 110

Mallow Family Ill

St. John's-wort Family 112

Evening Primrose Family 113

Parsley Family 115

Milkweed Family 119

Morning Glory or Convolvulus Family 120

Borage Family 123

Vervain Family 128

Mint Family 129

Figwort Family 133

Ribwort or Plantain Family 135

Madder or Bedstraw Family 140

Sunflower Family 141

Explanation of Botanical Terms 181

Index 183

PREFACE

The first edition of "Farm Weeds of Canada" was distributed free
to public libraries, universities, colleges, high schools, rural schools, agri-
cultural societies and farmers' institutes and clubs. The book was de-
signed to stimulate interest in the study of farm weeds in general,
their habits of growth and the best methods of combating them. It was
distributed with a view to make it conveniently available for the pur-
pose of reference, to all who are interested in agricultural pursuits
but particularly to farmers and pupils of schools in farming districts.

The second edition has been prepared and published to meet
the urgent requests from individuals who desire the book for their
personal use. The information presented in the text is useful because
the illustrations of weeds and weed seeds make it intelligible to farmers
and others who are not expert in the nomenclature of plants. The
expense entailed in the preparation, printing and binding of seventy-
six coloured plates as contained in this volume precludes it from the
list of those publications of the Department of Agriculture that are
distributed generally and free of charge. The nominal price fixed
for its sale will restrict its distribution to those who will preserve and
make proper use of it, and will meet a part of the unusual expense
incurred in its issue.

The death of Dr. James Fletcher, co-editor of the first edition,
caused a temporary suspension of the plans for the publication of the
second edition. With his co-operation and supervision, a large number
of water colour sketches of weeds were made by Norman Criddle,
while employed by the Seed Branch, during the early summer of 1908.
From these sketches selections were made of the illustrations of weeds
and weed seeds for the 20 additional plates that are included in the second
edition. The tentative general plans for the enlargement, botanical
re-arrangement and revision of text for a new edition of "Farm Weeds"
had been discussed with Dr. Flettiher in a general way on several
occasions during 1907 and the winter and early spring of 1908. It is
believed that the nature of the revision is in accord with the views
which he held and with the spirit of progressiveness that is clearly
evident in all his life work.

Considerable re-arrangement of the matter was made necessary
in the second edition in order that the various plant families, genera
and species might be adjusted to conform with the recommendations
of the International Botanical Congress at Vienna and now generally
adopted by botanists. Some additions to the subject matter have
been made to include new and important information that has resulted
from receflt research work. In revising the descriptions of plants and
seeds technical terms have been avoided whenever possible.

The book is not intended for use as a text book of botany. Inas-
much as the primary object of its issue is to present information per-

6 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

tainlng only to those plants that are commonly characterized as weeds,
it will be obvious that several plant f amiUes of i mportance in the study
of the science of botany, are not treated with in this publication. Nor
has it seemed practicable to illustrate, describe or even mention more
than those species that are known to be quite widely distributed and
generally troublesome weeds in Canada.

Some of the weeds herein illustrated and described have been
introduced within recent years, and it is to be expected that many
others and equally troublesome weeds may be introduced from time
to time and distributed in future years. Additional information
concerning weeds and methods of combating them will doubtless
also accrue from further research work. It is thought reasonable to
expect that later revised editions of "Farm Weeds" may be necessary
to bring it up to date for future years.

"Farm Weeds of Canada" was one of the last of the many con-
tributions to agriculture from the late Dr. James Fletcher. It is
desired that this second edition of the book will further perpetuate
to his memory that large measure of appreciation of his unselfish
personality and zeal for useful service which he so richly deserved.

Recognition for much arduous detail work in the compilation
and revision of the descriptions of weeds and weed seeds as contained
in this volume is due to Mr. George Michaud, Botanist in charge of the
Seed Laboratory. Valuable assistance was rendered by Prof. John
Macoun, who was frequently consulted in connection with the work
of re-classification and botanical nomenclature. Information as to
the best methods that may be employed in the control and extermin-
ation of particular weeds was provided by many experts in the practice
of agriculture, among them being T. G. Raynor, W. C. McKillican,
J. H. Grisdale, Henry Glendenning, T. N. WilUng, T. B. R. Henderson,
Angus MacKay, S. A. Bedford, James Murray, W. H. Fairfield and
Archibald Mitchel.

The illustrations of farm implements to destroy weeds were
selected with a view to show the type of implements referred to in the
text. There are numerous implements of approximately the same
general type, but of somewhat different design, which are equally
desirable and effective as weed destroyers.

Numerous quotations from old writings which treat with farm
weeds and other plants are inserted in space not required for the prin-
cipal text. The quotations from Tusser, Grahame, Jethro TuU,
Sinclair, Dickson, Worlidge, Fitzherberts, Hale and Blith were con-
tributed by Principal R. Patrick Wright, Glasgow, Scotland, and R. B.
Greig, Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scotland. The subject matter as
well as the text itself of many of the oldest of the quotations will
doubtless prove interesting and some of them even instructive when
studied in relation to the subject matter of this volume. They may
convey to the mind of the reader a fairly clear idea of the general
knowledge of plants that was possessed by the students of the
natural sciences in past centuries.

S. A. F. G. H. C.

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA.

mXRODUCTORY.

The annual losses due to the occurrence of pernicious
weeds upon farm lands, although acknowledged in a general
way, are far greater than is realized. These losses can be appre-
ciably lessened, however, by treatment based upon an accurate
knowledge of the nature of each weed.

Most farmers give little critical attention to the weeds
growing among their crops. Some think that, because many
of these plants are unfamiliar, the exact recognition of all of
them is impossible. This, however, is not the case, and, as the
different kinds vary greatly in their power of robbing the farmer,
it is certainly advisable that more attention should be given
to weed pests. Although several hundred kinds of plants grow
wild in almost every locality, and many of these may appear
among cultivated crops, comparatively few give serious trouble
— not more than there are different kinds of crops grown —
and every cultivator of the soil knows the difference between
wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, turnips, beets, etc. It is no more
difl&cult to learn the names, nature and appearance of Stink-
weed, Hare's-ear Mustard, False Flax, Canada Thistle, Field
Sow Thistle, Sweet Grass, Quack, etc., than to recognize the
familiar cultivated plants.

In the official bulletins which have been widely distributed
during recent years, the weeds have been named uniformly,
though many of them have other local names. It is therefore
clearly important that those for whose benefit the bulletins
have been prepared should know the plants by the names officially
recognized, so that they may be able to make the fullest use of
the information.

8 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA.

The prevalence of some species of weeds in certain parts
of the Dominion must be viewed with the gravest alarm, for
they have taken such possession of the land as to seriously
affect profitable farming. Such aggressive enemies are: Wild
Mustard, Quack or Couch Grass and Canada Thistle in parts of
almost every province; Ox-eye Daisy in the Maritime Provinces;
Field Sow Thistle in the Maritime Provinces, Quebec, Ontario,
and the Red River Valley in Manitoba ; and Stinkweed or
Penny Cress, Ball Mustard and Hare's-ear Mustard in all the
Prairie Provinces.

The increase of weeds is frequently due to the fact that
through ignorance of their noxious nature and power to spread,
farmers have neglected them.

"Many of our farmers have only a limited knowledge of
weeds, and in many cases do not recognize those that are dan-
gerous on their first appearance. Hence we have 'One year's
seeding, seven years' weeding.' There are some weeds so
noxious that if farmers knew their real character and recog-
nized the plants on their first appearance, they would postpone
all other business until they were destroyed. . . Self-interest
should be a sufficient incentive to farmers to destroy weeds
if it is clearly shown that it will pay them to do so." — H. Mac-
kellar.

WHAT IS A WEED?

There are many definitions of the word, but perhaps from a
farmer's standpoint the best one is, "Any injurious, trouble-
some or unsightly plant that is at the same time useless or
comparatively so." As a general statement, it may be said
that our most troublesome and aggressive weeds have been
introduced into Canada from other countries; but it is also
true that, under special circumstances, some of our native
wild plants may increase and become "noxious weeds."

LOSSES DUE TO WEEDS.

It is impossible to determine accurately the losses to
the individual farmer, or to an agricultural district or country

INTRODUCTORY 9

as a whole, from weeds growing upon cultivated land. In various
ways they lower the yield, depreciate the quality and value of
crops, and add to the cost of production.

1. Weeds rob the soil of plant food and of moisture, thus
increasing the effects of drought by taking up water from the
soil and wasting it by evaporation.

2. Weeds crowd out more useful plants, being hardier
and, as a rule, more prolific.

3. Weeds are a source of expense. From the time farmers
begin to prepare their land for a crop, these enemies increase
the cost of every operation — of plowing, harrowing, seeding
cultivating, cutting, binding, carrying and threshing, as well
as in cleaning, freighting and marketing the produce. Direct
losses are the larger consumption of binder twine necessary when
weedy crops are harvested, the extra wear and tear on machinery
due to coarse-growing weeds, and the depreciation in the market
value of the crop because of the presence of weeds in hay or of
weed seeds in grain.

4. The eradication of the worst weeds is costly in labour,
time and machinery, and frequently prevents a farmer from
following the best crop rotation, or even compels him to grow
crops which are less advantageous.

5. Many weeds are conspicuous and all are unsightly on
farm lands. They thus, in a varying degree, according to their
several natures, depreciate the value of land.

6. Some weeds are harmful to stock, being poisonous, as
Water Hemlock; others are injurious to their products, as
burs in wool, or Wild Garlic and Stinkweed, which taint milk.
The horny or barbed seeds of some grasses, as Porcupine Grass
and Skunk-tail Grass in the Northwest, cause irritation or pain-
ful wounds by penetrating the flesh, particularly the mouth
parts. '

7. Weeds attract injurious insects and harbour fungus
diseases. Weedy stubbles or summer-fallows are breeding

10 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

grounds for cut-worms, and the rust of small grains may pass
the winter on several kinds of grasses.

HOW WEEDS SPREAD.

In the present age of easy communication with all parts of
the country, and indeed with the whole world, there are fre-
quent opportunities for the introduction of weed seeds into
previously uninfested districts.

1. By natural agencies. The wind carries seeds long dis-
tances, not only in summer, but with drifting soil and over the
surface of the snow in winter. Streams distribute them along
their courses. They are also distributed by seed-eating birds
and herbivorous animals, through the stomachs of which the
seeds pass undigested; or they attach themselves by special
contrivances, such as hooked and barbed hairs, spines, gummy
excretions, etc., to passing animals.

2. By human agencies. New weeds are introduced on farms
with grass, clover or other commercial seeds, and commercial
feeding stufifs usually contain some vital weed seeds. They are
spread from district to district through various transportation
facilities, such as railways, and become disseminated within
a locality in stable manure from towns and cities, and through
threshing machines and farm implements. The illustrations
of weed seeds on the last five plates of this volume will aid in
the identification of impurities common in commercial seeds
and feeding stuffs.

CLASSIFICATION OF WEEDS.

Weeds, like all other plants, may be classified, according
to the length of time they live, as annuals, or one-year plants;
biennials, or two-year plants; and perennials, or many-year
plants. In eradicating weeds, it is of the greatest importance
to ascertain under which of these heads they come, because
the treatment is usually to prevent annuals and biennials from
seeding and perennials from forming new leaves, roots and
underground stems.

INTRODUCTORY 11

Annuals complete their growth in a year. As a rule, they
have small fibrous roots and produce a large quantity of seed.
Examples of this class are Wild Mustard, Lamb's Quarters,
Wild Buckwheat, Purslane, Ragweed and Wild Oats. Some weeds,
called Winter Annuals, are true annuals when the seeds ger-
minate in the spring, but they are also biennial in habit ; that is,
their seeds ripen in the summer, fall to the ground, germinate
and produce a certain growth before winter sets in, and then
complete their development the next spring. Of these may be
mentioned Shepherd's Purse, Peppergrass, Stinkweed, Worm-
seed Mustard, Ball Mustard, Hare's-ear Mustard, Canada Flea-
bane and Blue Bur.

Biennials require two seasons to complete their growth,
the first being spent in collecting and storing up a supply of
nourishment, which is used the second season in producing
flowers and seeds. Examples of these are Burdock, False
Tansy, Common Evening Primrose and Viper's Bugloss or Blue-
weed.

Perennials are those plants which continue to grow for
many years. Perennial weeds are propagated in several ways,
but all produce seeds as well. They have two distinct modes
of growth: some root deeply, while with others the root system
is near the surface. The most troublesome are those which
extend long underground stems or rootstocks beneath the
surface of the ground, as Canada Thistle, Perennial or Field
Sow Thistle, Field Bindweed, Bladder Campion, White-stemmed
Evening Primrose, Blue Lettuce and some wild sunflowers.
Representatives of the second class or shallow-rooted perennials
are Pasture Sage, Yarrow and Couch Grass. Some perennials
extend but slowly from the root by short stems or offsets, but
produce a large quantity of seed. Of these. Ox-eye Daisy,
Dandelion, Goldenrod and Yarrow are examples.

Weeds might also be grouped, according to their mani.er
of distribution, into two general classes: —

a. Weeds distributed in time are those which, when mature,
discharge their seed close to the mother plant. The seeds of

12 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

such weeds as the mustards, cockles and pigweeds, when fresh,
possess a protective coat that is almost impervious to water.
As a rule, the seeds of such weeds retain their vitality for a
number of years and germinate only when the hard seed coat has
become disintegrated by continued exposure to the action of
the sun, air or other climatic or soil conditions. Thus are such
weeds naturally distributed in time.

b. Weeds distributed in space are those the seeds of which,
when mature, are provided with means for natural distribution
by wind or other agencies. The thistles, hawkweeds and dande-
lions are examples of weeds distributed in space. The seeds of
such weeds, as a rule, do not retain their vitality for more than
a few years.

WEED SEEDS IN THE SOIL.

The ability of the seeds of many species of plants to retain
their vitality when embedded in the soil for a period of years is
one of the principal factors which brings them within the category
of noxious weeds.

It is commonly asserted by farmers that seeds of several
species of the Mustard and other families will retain their vitality
for an indefinite period. The apparent absence of mustard in
old pastures, roadways or lands left waste during many years,
and the re-appearance of the plant when the land is brought
under cultivation, forms the usual evidence to bear out such
assertions. An examination of permanent pasture or waste
lands that are known to have been polluted with mustard will,
however, show occasional inconspicuous plants that give promise
of ripening a few seeds.

Duval, of Washington, D.C., in December, 1902, buried
112 different kinds of seeds in clay soil in earthen pots, to depths
of six, eighteen and thirty-six inches, and compared their vitality
with control samples kept in proper storage. When dug up
in November, 1903, practically all the seeds of cultivated plants
were decayed, many of them having first germinated, even at

INTRODUCTORY 13

a depth of thirty-six inches. The buried weed seeds showed
a decided loss of vitality when compared with the control samples
that were kept in storage. The latter germinated fifty-three
per cent, on the average; those buried to a depth of six inches
germinated twenty per cent.; eighteen inches, twenty-six per
cent.: and thirty-six inches, thirty-one per cent.

Ewart, of the University of Melbourne, Australia, made
exhaustive vitality tests of six hundred different species of
seeds taken from a collection that had been compiled and stored
in a dry, airy and dark cupboard by Prof. McCoy in 1856, and a
large number of specimens of seeds, of varying ages, from the
national herbarium and other reliable sources. In his deductions
from the results of over 3,000 tests, Ewart gives a list of those
relatively few species that may be expected, under favourable
conditions, to retain their vitality beyond fifteen years, nearly
all of which species are included in the following botanical
families: Legnminosae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae, Nymphaeaceae, Lahi-
atae and Irideae. Forty-eight specimens of seeds of the genus
Brassica (the Mustard family) were tested. The fresh seeds
gave a germination as high as eighty-six per cent, and one lot
twelve years old gave a germination of thirty per cent. None
of the Brassica samples fifteen years old or more germinated,
although six of them were less than twenty years old.

CONTROL AND EXTERMINATION OF WEEDS.

In adopting a method of extermination, the nature of the
plant and its habits of growth must first of all be considered.
Some experience is necessary to know the best time to work
certain soils or to deal with special weeds, as well as to recog-
nize them in all their stages. Some weeds, Russian Thistle and
Stinkweed, for instance, have a very different appearance when
young and when mature. No general rule can be given, as the
treatment must vary with different districts, different soils,
and different climatic conditions. What may be successful in
one place may fail in another.

14 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Annuals may be eradicated from land, however badly
infested it may be, through any method by which germination
is hastened and the young plants destroyed before they produce
seed.

Biennials must be either plowed or cut down before they
flower. Mowing at short intervals in the second year, so as to
prevent the development of new seeds, will clear the land of
this class of plants; but a single mowing will only induce them
to send out later branches, which, if not cut, will mature many
seeds. Where plowing is impracticable, such plants should
be cut off below the crown of the root.

Perennials are by far the most troublesome of all weeds
and require thorough treatment, in some instances the culti-
vation of special crops, to insure their eradication. Imperfect
treatment, such as a single plowing, often does more harm than
good, by breaking up the rootstocks and stimulating growth.

For shallow-rooted perennials, infested land should be
plowed so lightly that the roots are exposed to the sun to dry
up. For deep-rooted perennials, on the other hand, plowing
should be as deep as conveniently possible. The nature of the
land must determine the depth of plowing. In light or gravelly
soils shallow plowing may be preferable as deep plowing might
interfere with the mechanical texture of the soil, which is so
important in the storing of moisture.

The rootstocks of some perennial weeds are very persistent.
Small sections or cuttings from them will quickly take root
when they are distributed by plowing or cultivation. Where
such persistent perennials have become well established, it is
usually advisable to adopt the most convenient method of
cultivation that will bring the rootstocks to the surface. They
should then be gathered and burnt or otherwise destroyed.
Most perennial weeds will, however, succumb to continued
thorough cultivation that will prevent the growth of leaves.

Plants take in most of their food through their leaves.
Perennial plants, which live for many years, have special reser-

INTRODUCTORY 16

voirs where some of this food, after elaboration, is stored in such
receptacles as bulbs, tubers and fleshy rootstocks. The first
growth in spring, particularly flowering stems, is produced
mainly by drawing on this special store of nourishment. Plants
are therefore in their weakest condition when they have largely
exhausted their reserve supply of food and have not had time
to replenish it. The stage of growth, then, when plowing will
be most effective is when their flowering stems have made full
growth but before the seeds, which would be a source of danger,
have had time to mature.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

1. There is no weed known which can not be eradicated by
constant attention, if the nature of its growth be understood.

2. Never allow weeds to ripen seeds.

3. Cultivate frequently, particularly early in the season,
so as to destroy seedlings.

4. Many weed seeds can be induced to germinate in autumn
by cultivating stubbles immediately after harvest. Most of
these seedlings will be winter-killed or can be easily disposed
of by plowing or cultivation in spring.

5. All weeds bearing mature seeds should be burnt. Under
no circumstances should they be plowed under.

6. All weeds can be destroyed by the use of ordinary im-
plements of the farm, the plow, the cultivator, the harrow, the
spud and the hoe.

7. Be constantly on the alert to prevent new weeds from
becoming established.

SLTtfMER FALLOWING,

The practice of summer-fallowing land, to the exclusion of
all crops throughout the season, whatever may be said against it,
affords the best opportunity to suppress noxious weeds. For

16 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

lands foul with persistent growing perennials, a thorough sum-
mer-fallow will usually be the most effective and, in the end,
the least expensive method of bringing the weeds under control.

The amount and nature of the cultivation of a summer-
fallow will depend on the habits of the weeds, the kind of soil,
and the climatic conditions. In some extreme cases of peren-
nial weeds, it may be advisable to allow the plants to exhaust
their reserve vigor by growth until the flowers are formed, then
cut and remove the surface growth, plow to a depth of four
or five inches, and bring the rootstocks to the surface before
they have had time to renew growth. After cutting and removing
the surface growth cultivators may, after several applications,
be forced to the bottom of the furrow, thus unearthing the net-
work of rootstocks. Much machine labour in working out and
destroying the rootstocks before they have had time to renew
growth after the first plowing will be most economical in the end.
Perennial weeds having deep rootstocks may require a second
and deep plowing before all the underground vegetation can be
unearthed. If perennials alone are to be dealt with, they may
be treated as above directly after an early hay crop.

Periodical cultivation of the summer-fallow throughout the
growing season is effective in bringing weed seeds to the surface,
stimulating their germination and destroying the seedling
plants. When the destruction of annual weeds is the chief
purpose of cultivation, deep plowing two or three times during
the summer, with surface cultivation each week during June
and July and less frequently later in the season, should secure
the germination and destruction of the maximum number of
seeds. On account of the soil and climate, one plowing of
summer-fallow is favoured in the Prairie Provinces. In moist
seasons a second deep plowing is apt to stimulate too rank a
growth of straw and delay the ripening of the grain. The ger-
mination of weed seeds is stimulated most by cultivation during
the early growing season, and summer-fallows intended primarily

INTRODUCTORY 17

for that purpose should be brought under cultivation early in
the season.

SHORT ROTATION OF CROPS.

To keep farms free from weeds, few methods give such good
results as a systematic short rotation of crops, with regular
seeding down to grass or clover at short intervals.

Weeds are most in evidence in districts where the pro-
duction of cereal grains predominates and where the systematic
alternation of crops is not generally practiced. Many weeds
ripen their seeds with cereal grains and the seeds are scattered
during harvest. When a cereal crop is followed by early clover,
the weeds in the clover may be cut before they are mature.
The hay crop of the second year after seeding is not infested
with weeds because a fresh supply of the seeds has not been
brought to the surface by cultivation. The removal of the
hay crop of the second year affords an opportunity for a summer-
fallow, preparatory to the production of a hoed or some other
cleaning crop.

The following short rotation is recommended for the eastern
provinces by J . H. Grisdale, Agriculturist of the Central Experi-
mental Farm: —

''To destroy weeds, probably the best rotation possible is
one of three years duration including clover and mixed hay,
followed by roots or corn, the land shallow-plowed in fall and
sown to grain the next spring with ten pounds of red clover and
twelve pounds of timothy per acre. (When the land is heavy
or clayey, the ten pounds of red clover may be replaced by six
pounds of red clover and two of alsike.) If a portion of the arable
land must be used for pasture, then the land might be allowed
to remain under grass or hay for two years instead of one year,
the second being used for pasture, thus extending the three-
year into a four-year rotation. The pasture land in the four-
year rotation, or the hay land in the three-year rotation, should
be broken up early in August and cultivated at intervals to
destroy the successive growths of weeds as they appear. The

18 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

land should be again plowed or preferably ridged in the fall.
These rotations may be expected to give good results anywhere
in Canada east of Manitoba."

SHEEP DESTROY WEEDS.

When an abundance of succulent pasture of the finer grasses
is provided, weeds can scarcely be said to be favoured by sheep
as a staple part of their diet. Sheep will, however, even when
good pasture is provided them, vary their diet by nipping off
seedling plants or the fresh growing parts, and the bloom with
its content of sweets, from older plants of many of our common
weeds. When their pasture is depleted, sheep feed readily on
Wild Mustard, Ox-eye Daisy, Yarrow, Plantain, Perennial and
Annual Sow Thistle, Wild Vetch or Tare, Docks, Sorrel, Lamb's
Quarters, Milkweed, Ragwort, Burdock and Shepherd's Purse.
In fact, there are few weeds that sheep will not eat, to the extent
of preventing them from seeding, if there is not enough of their
favorite grasses to satisfy them. It is only when the supply of
food is unusually short that sheep will feed on plants having
leaves and stems covered with bristly hairs or spines, or with a
flavour that is obnoxious to them. When the plants are young
and tender, however, sheep have been observed to eat such
weeds as Ragweed, Blue-weed, Cockles, Orange Hawkweed,
Hound's Tongue, Stickseed, Mullein, Canada Thistle, Stinkweed,
Toadflax, and others that are bristly or have a pungent flavour.
Thorough cultivation with a systematic rotation of crops, com-
bined with the maintenance of as many sheep as can be kept
to advantage, is a certain and profitable means of keeping weeds
under control.

» SEEDING TO GRASS.

Lands foul with some kinds of weeds, particularly annuals,
may advantageously be seeded to grass for hay or pasture.
The cultivation of hoed crops becomes too expensive for labour
when the soil is polluted with weed seeds. Grain crops may
also be unprofitable because of weeds, and they afford an oppor-

INTRODUCTORY

19

tunity for the weeds to increase. A thorough summer-fallow
would do much to bring the weeds under control, but this is
not always convenient. Seeding to grass and cutting the hay
crop early would prevent most kinds of weeds from ripening
more than a relatively small number of seeds, and the number
of vital weed seeds in the sub-surface soil would rapidly decrease
from year to year. If perennial weeds are also prevalent, it
would be well to pasture with sheep and mow the roughage
closely each year, before the spring growth has formed seeds.

FARM IMPLEMENTS TO DESTROY WEEDS.

The best time to destroy weeds is within two or three days
after the first pair of leaves has formed on the seedling plant.
In friable soils the *'weeder" is a useful implement for that
purpose. The "tilting" harrow is also satisfactory for com-
paratively loose soils and is preferred as a weed destroyer on
firm or clayey land. Weeds are irregular in time of germina-
tion; consequently it is necessary to apply the weeder or harrow
frequently throughout the growing season. Fields of potatoes,
corn and cereal grains, when sown with a drill, may advan-
tageously be treated with these weed destroyers once or twice
before the crop distinctly shows above ground, and again, with
corn and ordinary grain crops, when the plants are three to six

THK WEEDER

20

FAHM AVKKDS OF TAX A DA

THE TILTING HARROW

inches high. Even relatively heavy harrows ordinarily in use
will do little damage to the potatoes, corn or grain plants if the
land is not wet, and the loosening of the surface soil benefits
the crop in addition to the destruction of the weeds.

For perennial weeds, or seedlings that have become well
rooted, a cultivator having "diamond" shaped or other relatively
broad shares is needed for hoed crops. The "disc" is a favoured
implement for destroying weeds in summer-fallow or in preparing
a seed bed. When, however, it is desired to unearth and re-
move the rootstocks of perennial weeds such as Couch Grass,
a narrow-toothed cultivator, that will loosen the soil and bring
the underground vegetation to the surface, is preferred to an

THE DISC

INTRODUCTORY

21

THE CULTIVATOB

implement that will cut the rootstocks, the small cuttings of
which may be exceedingly persistent in growth.

WEED SEEDS IX COMMERCLA.L SEEDS AXD FEEDING STUFFS.

Commercial seeds and feeding stuffs are fruitful sources
of weed introduction and distribution. Stable manure from
cities and towns is often polluted with weed seeds; but its
distribution is not so general as the seeds of clovers, grasses and
cereals or ground meal for feeding.

Too much care cannot be taken to procure clean seed. An
additional cost of fifty cents per acre for seed known to be clean
is cheap insurance against losses caused by the introduction
of noxious weeds. Where possible, it is advisable to procure
seed from lands that are known to be free from noxious weeds.
Commercial seeds should be carefully examined and the kinds
and nature of any weed seeds included therein clearly under-
stood before J: hey are sown. Absolutely pure seeds are not
obtainable in quantity for commerce and many samples that
appear to be clean contain seeds of the most objectionable
weeds. Clover seeds foul with Foxtail are often less harmful

22 FARM W?:EDS of CANADA

than apparently clean samples that contain a few seeds of Bladder
Campion or Perennial Sow Thistle.

Commercial feeding stuffs usually find a better sale when
not too finely ground. The records of analysis of a large number
of samples of meals, manufactured principally from coarse grains
of various kinds, show that vital seeds of noxious weeds are
usually present. The ground screenings from grain used for
milling are a common ingredient of feeding stuffs. Many of
the small weed seeds contained in them will retain their vitality
until spread on the land with farmyard manure. Such small
weed seeds should be separated from the coarser grains by
screening, and burnt or finely ground apart from the grain.

THE GRASS FAMILY (Gramineae).

True grasses may be annual, biennial or perennial. They
represent the most widely distributed plant family, which
includes all our cereal grains and many valuable fodder plants
as well as some of our worst weeds. The native grasses indicate
to botanists the character of the soil and climate of the locality
where they are found, perhaps more than plants of any other
family. Numerous species are persistent in farm crops, but
only a comparatively few are characterized as noxious weeds.

Grasses are tufted or "bunched" when numerous stems
rise from a single base or from short rootstocks, and creeping
when the rootstocks are long. Flowering stems and fibrous
roots are developed from the joints or nodes at the base of the
stem or along the rootstocks.

The stems of grasses are usually herbaceous and hollow,
with thick, hard joints or nodes. In relatively few species the
stem becomes woody, as in the bamboos, or filled with pith
between the nodes, as in maize. The height varies from
the tall bamboo to the dwarf mosslike species found within the
Arctic Circle.

THE GRASS FAMILY 23

The mode of flowering is by wide variation of spikes, as
in Foxtail and Couch Grass, and also by panicles, according
as the spike is more or less branched, as in Sweet Grass and
Wild Oats. Both spikes and panicles are composed of spikelets,
enclosed in scales or glumes, bearing one or more inconspicuous
flowers.

The seed. What is commonly called a grass "seed" is
composed of two distinct parts: 1. The kernel or caryopsis,
which is really the seed as it contains the germ or young plant
in a dormant state. 2. The scales or glumes, which are not
an essential part of the seed but merely form a protective cover-
ing. Wheat, rye, hulless barley and corn, which belong to the
Grass family, when threshed, are called true seeds, as the kernel
or caryopsis is free from the glumes. The kernel or caryopsis
of oats and the common grasses generally remains enclosed
within the glumes. Occasionally both forms are found together
as in timothy, which almost always contains both hulled and
unhulled seeds.

The seeds of grasses are produced in abundance. They
retain their vitality for a relatively short period. The various
species have different contrivances for natural distribution.
Those which give trouble as noxious weeds are distributed
principally by human agencies. The seeds of all the weeds of
the Grass family occur in commercial seeds of clovers, grasses,
forage plants and cereal grains.

The annual and biennial grasses are propagated by seeds
alone; the perennial species by seeds and rootstocks.

Of GrLD.

Gif thi malar (tenant) puttis guld (weeds) in thi land and will nocht deUuer it and
clenge it he aw to be punyst puniri sicut seductor qui dueit exercitum in terra domini
Regis vel baronis ^hanged).

And gif thi natiff man or thi bonde (servant) haf fylit thi land \*ith guld for ilk
plant of it he sail gif to the or ony other lord a mutone (wether sheep) to be forfalt and
neuer the les he sal clenge the land of the guld.

— Statute of Alexander II of Scotland (1212-1249).

24 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

GREEN FOXTAIL (Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv.)
Other English names: Pigeon Grass, Bottle Grass.

Other Latin names: Panicum viride L.; Chamaeraphis viridis
Porter; Ixophorus viridis Nash; Chaetochloa viridis Scribn.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, tufted, stems erect,
simple or branched from the base, leafy. The part of the leaf
embracing the stem is smooth and hairless, while the margins of the
extended portion are generally rough. Panicle thick, spike-
like, its central axis bearing long soft hairs. Spikelet single-
flowered, or with one perfect and one barren flower. From 1 to
3 persistent green bristles, upwardly barbed, inserted on the
short footstalks just below the florets.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 2) is generally found enclosed in
a tough hard husk, 1 /12 of an inch long, oval, with the outer
scale rounded and folded over the polished rounded edges of
the inner scale, which is flattened in the middle. Both scales
of the husk are roughened crosswise with narrow ridges. The
colour is very variable according to the degree of ripeness; yellow,
gray, brown or purplish, the darker seeds mottled with darker
spots. The kernel is greenish white, convex on the outer face,
which bears the germ, and flattened on the inner face.

Time of flowering: June to September; seeds ripe by July.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Abundant in eastern Canada; occasional in
the West. The seeds are a common impurity in red clover seed.

Injury: A troublesome persistent weed in all crops on land
not worked under a short crop rotation with clean cultivation.
It seeds profusely from harvest to late autumn in cereal stubble
lands, hoed crops, new meadows and clover seed crops. The
presence of this seed as an impurity materially reduces the
value of red clover seed for commerce.

Remedy: Thick seeding with clovers and grasses will help
to suppress Foxtail in the autumh stubble and subsequent clover
crop. In clover seed crops, the patches that have been winter-
killed should be mown while the Foxtail is still quite green.

THE GR.\SS FAMILY 25

The cut thus taken may be of value as fodder and the increased
market value of the clover seed will more than repay the cost
of the labour. Bare stubble should be plowed shallow or disced
to prevent the further ripening of seed directly after the grain
crop is removed. Frequent and clean cultivation of hoed crops
is needed to prevent Foxtail becoming established. The hoe
should also be used to destroy late plants after cultivation of
the crops becomes impracticable. Any practice that will
prevent this annual from seeding will reduce and ultimatel}'
eradicate it.

ALLIED SPECIES: YeUow Foxtail (Setaria glauca (L.)
Beauv.) Very similar to Green Foxtail. The branches,
however, are more spreading, the whole plant is rather larger
and more succulent, the spikes less compound and slenderer,
with larger seeds. The bristles of the spike are distinctly yellow.
The young plant has a broad pale-green leaf and the base of the
stem shows a characteristic yellow colour.

The seeds are similar to those of Green Foxtail but larger. They
are a common impurity in all kinds of grass and clover seeds,
seed grain and feeding stuffs. Like most of the millets, they
require a warm soil for growth, and the Foxtail plants are not
much in evidence during the early spring months.

Closely allied to the Foxtails are the widely distributed
Panic grasses (Paniciim) . While they are of various habits of
growth, they differ essentially from the Foxtails by the absence
of the persistent bristles below the florets.

The seeds of all of them have similar characteristics, such
as the free grain enclosed in the horny scales, the margins of the
outer one being more or less enrolled.

Most common in our crops is Old-witch Grass (Panicum
cajdllare L.), a stout annual with hairy leaves and a large loosely
spreading panicle about half the length of the whole plant.

The seed- (Plate 72, fig. 1) is about 1 /16 of an inch long,
spindle-shaped in outline, highly shiny, olive green, with white
parallel nerves, more yellowish when unripe. It occurs often
and in large quantities in the seeds of timothy and other grasses.

26 FARM WKEDS OF CANADA

SWEET GRASS (Hierochloe odorata (L.) Wahlenb.)

Other English names: Indian Hay, Vanilla Grass, Seneca
Grass, Holy Grass, incorrectly called Couch or Quack Grass.

Other Latin names: Holcus odoratus L.; Hierochloa borealis
Roem. and Schultes; Savastana odorata (L.) Scribn.

A native grass, sweetly aromatic, with the fragrant prin-
ciple of the Tonka Bean and Sweet Clover (Coumarin).

Perennial, deep-rooted, with wide-spreading white root-
stocks, which produce in summer many barren shoots with long,
flat, shining leaves of a deep green, over a foot in length. Flower-
ing stems are thrown up early in spring, the first flowers opening
when the stems are only a few inches out of the ground. Panicle
pyramidal, 1 to 3 inches high, loose during flowering, with spread-
ing branches, contracting and becoming dark golden-brown
as the seeds ripen, when the stems are 12 to 18 inches high.
Spikelets drooping, with shining papery outer scales, which are
yellowish tinged with purple, 1-seeded but 3-flowered, two
male flowers between scales, the margins of which are fringed
with hairs, and one female flower in the centre inside two smooth
scales.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 3) is enclosed in the inner smooth
scales. The naked seed closely resembles timothy, but is thin-
ner, more cylindrical, and sometimes bears at its apex the
remainder of the dried-off style (the elongated part of the pistil).
The miniature root of the germ is more prominent.

Time of flowering: April to May; seed ripe by the begin-
ning of June.

Propagation: By seeds and running rootstocks.

Occurrence: Rare in the eastern provinces, growing mostly
in damp places by streams and rivers. Under-ripe stems of
this grass are gathered, cured and sometimes stained by Indian
women for weaving baskets, mats and other ornaments. In

.^v^r^^"^^^^

Plate 2

SWEET GRASS or HOLYGRASS

( H I e ro ch I o e o6orat&(L) W'lhienh)

THE GRASS FAMILY 27

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta it is widely distributed
and seems to thrive on all kinds of soil.

Injury: Where it has become firmly established it crowds
out any cultivated crop. It is a rapid grower and on the prairie
quickly spreads over cultivated lands. On account of its deep
and persistent rootstocks, it is a difficult weed to suppress.

Remedy: Mow and burn while the grass is in bloom in May,
to destroy the seeds. Then plow deeply to get below the root-
stocks, which may be brought to the surface by thorough cul-
tivation, continued through the summer. This will be made
more effective by deep plowing as late in the fall as the frost
will allow.

Good results have been obtained in Manitoba by plowing
deeply in spring when the Sweet Grass is in flower and at once
seeding down heavily to barley.

For Saskatchewan, Angus MacKay recommends as follows: —
"The first plowing should be done when the ground is dry and
the weather hot; early in August gives the best results. Plow
deep and leave the ground rough for a few days, then harrow
and repeat the plowing in another week if the weather is warm
and dry. Plowing when the ground is wet only spreads the
weed."

The Diseases and ill Accidents of Com, are worthy to be enquired, and would be
more worthy to be enquired, if it were in men's power to help them; whereas many of
them are not to be remedied. The Mildew is one of the greatest, which (out of question)
Cometh by closeness of Air; and therefore in Hills, or large Champain-Grounds, it seldom
Cometh. . . .This cannot be remedied, otherwise than that in Countreys of small enclosure
the Grounds be turned into larger Fields: Which I have known to do good in some Farms.
Another Disease is the putting forth of Wild Oats, whereinto Com oftentimes (especially
B,arley) doth degenerate. It hapneth chiefly from the weakness of the Grain that is

sown; for if it be either too old or mouldy, it will bring forth wild Oats Another

Disease is Weeds; and they are such, as either choak and over-shadow the Com, and bear
it down, or starve the Com, and deceive it of nourishment.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

28 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

WILD OATS (Avena fatua L.)

Other Latin names: Avena fatua L., var. glabrata Peter-
mann; Avena fatua L., var. glabrescens Cosson.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, smooth, 2 to 4 feet
high, growing in erect tufts. Plant closely resembles some
varieties of cultivated oats. Panicle is compact when it appears
but quickly opens, spreading in all directions, 6 to 12 inches
long.

The seeds (Plate 72, fig. 4) vary greatly in size and in colour;
they are brown or gray of different shades, sometimes yellowish-
white. They are similar to those of the common cultivated
varieties of oats, but generally slimmer, harder, of a horny
appearance, and show the following characteristics of differen-
tiation:—

1. The strong, twisted, right-angled awn, frequently broken
off by threshing.

2. The stiff bristles surrounding the basal scar, which,
however, are not always present in threshed grain.

3. The slanting horseshoe-shaped scar at the base of the
seed, which is sometimes broken off by the thresher or other
machine.

4. The minute stalk (rachilla) which bears the second or
"bosom" grain, but which remains attached to the lower grain,
is larger and thicker. The free end is slanting, roughly triangular
and shows a marked depression.

5. The abundance and roughness of the hairs covering the
kernel.

Time of flowering : Uneven, commencing about the last of
June; some seeds ripe by the middle of July.

Propagation: By seeds only. Plants cut off when in flower
throw up secondary flowering stems very quickly.

Occurrence: Widely distributed throughout Canada; most
abundant and troublesome where cereal crops predominate.

Plate 3

WILD OATS
(Avena fat-ua zj

THE GRASS F.\MILY 29

Injury: Wild Oats are hardier and more vigorous than
cultivated varieties of cereals. Unlike those of the latter, the
Wild Oat seeds retain their vitality for several years, though
probably not longer than seven years even in the dry soils of
the western plains. The seeds on the upper part of the head and
on the tips of the branches ripen earlier than those less exposed.
The earlier seeds are dropped before or during harvest; thus
Wild Oats tend to increase on lands where the production of
cereal grains predominates. The later maturing seeds are har-
vested with the crop and remain in commercial wheat, oats and
barley. They are the most prevalent impurity in western-
grown grain and the annual loss entailed thereby is enormous.

Remedy: Sow clean seed grain. In the eastern provinces
lands polluted with Wild Oats may be seeded to grass for hay or
pasture for five years. Surface cultivation after harvest will
start germination of the seeds scattered during harvest. Any
method of cultivation or arrangement of crops that will induce
the seeds in the soil to germinate and permit the destruction
of the plants before they have produced seed will eventually exter-
minate Wild Oats. A short crop rotation, with clean cultivation
of the hoed crop and seeding to clover or grasses, with a soiling
or other crop in which Wild Oats can not mature and drop their
seeds, will do much to clean the land of this pest.

To eradicate Wild Oats in the Prairie Provinces, the land
should be plowed shallow or disced immediately after an infested
crop is harvested; the best method is to have the disc follow
behind the binder. The purpose of this is to cover the seeds
of Wild Oats. Some of them will germinate in the autumn;
the remainder will start in the spring. As soon as they appear
in the spring, the ground should be plowed shallow to destroy
them and to start another growth. This should be followed in
about two weeks by deep plowing, to bring up the seeds lying
at a greater depth. Harrow after each plowing, to start growth.
During the remainder of the summer Wild Oats should be kept
down by the use of the disc or broad-share.d cultivator. The

30 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA •

next season, stray plants should be hand-pulled; or, if they are
still thick in a few spots, they should be cut and burnt. ^ [ ..

Instead of continuing the. summer-fallow, sow in June, after
the second plowing, a crop for green feed. This crop, however,
must be cut before any of the Wild Oat seeds approach maturity.
Sometimes early barley is sown in the hope of ripening grain,
but this is risky. Cattle and sheep may be pastured on infested
land with good results. Their tramping packs the soil and
stimulates germination, and they eat off the young plants.

Seed is often allowed to ripen on the edges of fields and
in fence corners, and thus the object of much faithful work is
defeated.

CHESS (Btomus secalinus L.)

Other English names : Cheat, Wheat Thief.

Introduced from Europe. Winter annual, stems erect,
simple. The portion of the leaf that embraces the stem is
smooth, strongly nerved. Panicle loose, its branches some-
what drooping, with many flowered, hairless spikelets, which
are so distinct as to show openings between them along the stalk,
when viewed from the side.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 5) is about 1/3 inch long, enclosed in
scales of the same length. The outer one is convex, thick and,
unrolled at the margin when ripe, provided with a short bristly
awn. The inner scale is bordered with stiff hairs and adherent
to the kernel. The footstalk of the grain above is strongly
curved and club-shaped.

Time of flowering: June, seeds ripen in July.
Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Widely distributed wherever winter wheat or
other fall or winter crops are grown.

Plate 4

CHE-SS OR CHE-AT
(Bromus secalinuszj

THE GRASS FAMILY 31

Injury: Chess is hardier than wheat, and where the young
winter wheat has been killed out the Chess is seldom injured.
Being a vigorous grower, it stools freely and becomes much in
evidence where the wheat has been partially destroyed. This
appearance of Chess, apparently only in those patches where
the wheat has been winter-killed, has led some farmers to the
erroneous conclusion that Chess is a degenerate form of wheat.
It is a common impurity in winter wheat, and, to a less extent,
in winter rye and other grains and seeds of commerce, and in
feeding stuffs. Chess is objectionable in wheat for milling as
it gives the flour a dark colour and a disagreeable flavour. Remov-
ing it by cleaning causes considerable loss of the smaller grains
of wheat.

Remedy: Use clean seed. The seed of Chess is short-lived.
When buried in the soil it wiU not retain its \dtality for more
than three or four years. A four years rotation of crops, ex-
clusive of winter grains, will clean the soil of its seeds. Cut and
destroy all patches of Chess where the grain crop has killed out.
Do not allow the seeds to become mixed with manure and be
transported again to the fields. Farm stock or birds, when
given an opportunity to feed on mature Chess or its seeds,
will do much to distribute vital seeds. For a field badly infested,
thick seeding with early red clover is recommended. The first
crop of hay should be cut before Chess has had an opportunity
to produce seeds.

ALLIED SPECIES: Soft Chess (Bromus hordeaceus L.) is
occasionally found in fields and waste places in the eastern
provinces. It is shorter, and the whole plant is of a soft hairy
character. It seldom gives trouble as a weed.

Slender Chess (Bronius tectorum L.) is another species some-
times met in waste places, rarely in fields. It is characterized by
slender stems, soft hairy leaves and long awns.

The lyfe so short, the craft so long to leme,
Th' assay so hard, so sharpe the conquering.

— Chaucer, The Assembly of Poules, 1381.

32 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

COMMON DARNEL (Lolium iemulentum L.)

Other English names : Poison Darnel, White Darnel,
Ivray, Poison Rye Grass, Bearded Darnel.

Other Latin name: Lolium arvense With.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, smooth, stems 2 to 4
feet high, simple. Leaves smooth beneath, rough above, the
portion embracing the stem is purple when the plant is young.
Spike 6 to 10 inches long; somewhat resembling that of Couch
Grass, but having the edges of the spikelets resting against
the stalk instead of the broadsides, as in Couch Grass. Spike-
lets 3 to 7-flowered, solitary, stalkless and alternate, with their
edges fitting tightly into grooves on either side of the stalk;
each spikelet in the axil of a long, rigid, strongly-nerved, per-
sistent empty scale, which nearly equals or is sometimes much
longer than the spikelets.

The seed, somewhat swollen, resembles small barley, with
blunt ends and a shallow wide groove on the inner surface.
The inner scale is minutely bristly on the edges but not coarsely
bristly along the margins, as in Chess; the outer scale is hard
and flinty, as in the chaff of wheat, and either with or without
a long awn. The footstalk of the grain above on the spikelet
is long, flat, smooth, straight-cut on the top. The kernel, after
the husks have been removed, is greenish-brown, often tinged
with deep purple. Darnel seeds are found in western wheat.

Time of flowering: July; seeds ripe in August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : Abundant in parts of the Red River Valley,
Manitoba, and occasional throughout the Prairie Provinces.
Most common in moist land.

Injury: The scales cover the seed very tightly, the inner
one being adherent to it; in that condition it is nearly the same
size and weight as small grains of wheat and is exceedingly
difficult to separate by machinery. Darnel has become a

Plate 5

COMMON DARNEL
(Lolium temulentam l.)

THE GRASS FAMILY 33

serious pest in wheat fields in some localities where it has been
recently introduced. The market value of wheat is materially
reduced by the presence of Darnel seeds in quantity.

The seeds of Darnel are reputed to be poisonous. In
"The True Grasses," by Edward Hackel (translated), is the
following : —

"The grain contains a narcotic principle (Loliin), soluble
in ether, which causes eruptions, trembling and confusion of
sight in man and flesh-eating animals, and very strongly in
rabbits; but it does not affect swine, horned cattle or ducks."

Dr. E. M. Freeman, of the University of Minnesota, has
shown, however, that there are two races of the plant, one with
a fungus and another without, and that there is apparently no
transference of the fungus from one race to the other. In refer-
ring to the results of his investigations, he says: "If the seeds
are really poisonous, it may be that those with the fungus are
poisonous, while those without fungus are not. I have attempted
recently to determine this, but have failed to get any conclusive
results."

Remedy: Sow clean seed. It is not definitely known how
long the seeds will retain their vitality. Lands badly infested
with Darnel may be seeded to grass to advantage. That will
prevent it from spreading in seed grain and will ultimately
destroy the vitality of the seeds in the soil. Feed grain containing
Darnel should be finely ground. It is distributed principally
in seed grain, feeding stuffs and by other human agencies.
The method of eradication outlined for Wild Oats will be effective
for Darnel.

Want ye com for bread?
Twas full of darnel; Do you like the taste?

— Shakespeare, / Henry VI, Act III, sc. ii, 1592.

34 FARM WP]EDS OF CANADA

COUCH or QUACK GRASS (Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv.)

Other English names: Scutch, Twitch, Quitch Grass.
Other Latin name: Triticum repens L.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, by wide-spreading
but shallow fleshy rootstocks, forming large matted beds.
Flowering stems rather freely produced, smooth above, downy
below. Flowers in 3 to 7-flowered spikelets, forming a narrow
spike with the spikelets lying flat against the stalk. Leaves
dark green, rather distinctly ribbed, and more or less hairy
below.

The seeds in the scales (Plate 72, fig. 6) are about 3/8 of an
inch long. The kernel is shaped like a small grain of wheat 3/ 16
of an inch long, with wide-open groove. The basal end which
bears the germ is pointed, while the other end is blunt and fuzzy
The seeds are a common impurity in seeds of the coarser grasses,
and in litter from hay or straw containing mature Couch Grass.

Time of flowering: About the end of June; seeds ripe in
July.

Propagation: By seeds and creeping rootstocks near the
surface of the ground. When the rootstocks are broken by plow
or cultivator, each segment is capable of forming a new plant;
these pieces may be carried from field to field on farm implements.

Occurrence: Widely distributed throughout Canada and a
most injurious weed in all kinds of soil. Abundant east of the
Prairie Provinces and also in a few localities in the West.

Injury: A most persistent weed in all deep-plowed lands
and in all crops, with great power of spreading and choking out
other plants.

Remedy: Let the plant exhaust its substance in the pro-
eduction of a hay crop, which should be cut and removed as soon
as the head is formed and before it is in bloom. Plow shallow
and cultivate until the rootstocks have been brought to the
surface by implements that can be forced, after repeated appli-

Plate 6

COUCH. QUACK or SCUTCH GRASS

( A g ro py ron repens (UJtoauv)

THE GRASS FAMILY 35

cations, to the full depth of the furrow. A disc is not satisfactory
because the cuttings from the rootstocks are difficult to gather
and they perpetuate the growth, wherever transplanted. When
brought to the surface the rootstocks should be gathered and
burnt or removed. This should be done at once before the plant
has had an opportunity to renew its growth. For Manitoba,
S. A. Bedford recommends plowing up the Couch Grass late in the
spring and seeding at once to barley, three bushels to the acre.

Rape, buckwheat or millet, sown after the land has been
well cultivated and the rootstocks removed, is a good cleaning
crop for late sowing. The land may be put under hoed crop,
corn, potatoes or roots the following year.

ALLIED SPECIES: Blue Joint or Western Couch Grass

{Agropyrum glaucum R. & S. var. occidentaie V. & S.) is a
native of the western prairies, where it is hardy and persistent
and prevalent everywhere. It is differentiated from the common
Couch Grass by the decided grayish-green colour of its foliage.
It is often troublesome when breaking is done carelessly, but
continued thorough cultivation of the land will exterminate
it in a few years. It gives trouble on the prairies among trees
and shrubbery and should be thoroughly subdued before such
plantations are laid out.

Slack neuer thy weeding, for dearth nor for cheap,

the come shall reward it, yer euer ye reaj)e:
And speciallie where, ye do trust for to feed,

let that be well used, the better to speed.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Httndreth Pointes of Huahandrie, 1557.

There is an opinion in the Countrey, That if the same Ground be oft sown with the Grain
that grew upon it, At will, in the end, grow to be of a baser kind. It is certain, that in
very Sterile Years, Com sown will grow to an other kind. And generally it b a Rule,
that Plants that are brought forth by Culture, as Corn, will sooner change into other
Species, than those that come of themselves: For that Ctdture giveth but an adventi-
tious Nature, which is more easily put off.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

36 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

SKUNK-TAIL GRASS {Hordeum jubatum L.)

Other English names: Skunk Grass, Squirrel-tail Grass,
Wild Barley, Tickle Grass, and, inaccurately called Foxtail.

Native. Perennial, not flowering the first year, forming
tufts 8 to 12 inches high. Leaves grayish-green. Flowers in
beautiful, silky, bristly heads, 3 to 4 inches long, pale yellowish-
green often tinged with red. When ripe, the spikes break up
into 7-awned clusters of three flowers. The central long-awned
flower is the fertile female one; on each side of it and attached
to its base are two barren flowers, each with three shorter awns.

The seed produced by the female flower is slender, sharp
pointed, somewhat resembling a miniature seed of barley, and
provided with a long, upwardly-barbed awn.

Time of flowering: July; seeds ripe July to August.

Propagation: By seeds. This grass is frequently said to
be an annual or biennial; but all the plants grown in Ottawa
from western seed during the past twenty years are certainly
perennial, forming large tufts but sending out no running root-
stocks.

Occurrence: From Lake Superior westward, particularly
in alkaline soil where better grasses can not thrive. Occasional
in eastern Canada.

Injury: This grass is a serious enemy to western stockmen,
being a source of much injury to horses, cattle and sheep. The
barbed seeds and awns penetrate the soft tissues of the mouth,
causing irritation and inflamed ulcers; they work down beside
the teeth, producing inflammation and swelling; and they are
also said to work into the wool about the eyes of sheep, then into
the tissues surrounding the eye, and even into the ball itself,
in many instances causing total blindness.

Remedy: T. N. Willing, of Regina, Sask., sums up the
best methods of dealing with Skunk-tail Grass as follows: —

\ '

Plate 7

SKUNK GRASS WILD BARLEY OR SQUIRREL- TAIL GRASS

(Hordeum jubahum /. )

THE GRASS FAMILY 37

"There is no difficulty in eradicating this grass from any
land which can be plowed, as the usual method of breaking in
June will destroy it. It gives most trouble in waste places
where it ripens its seed, which is spread abroad in every direction
by wind and water. It grows freely about the edges of hay
sloughs on the prairie and is generally ripe before any hay is cut.
The remedy in this case would be cutting before the seeds were
formed. In a wet season probably a second cutting would be
necessary to prevent any seed ripening. When fields of awnless
brome grass are badly infested, it is best to break and backset
and then take a crop of grain before re-seeding; or the fields
may be burnt over in the fall to destroy such seeds of the Wild
Barley as may have fallen; early in the following spring plow
the sod shallow and then harrow and roll. In this way the
brome grass may be renewed without re-seeding, and most of
the weed will have been destroyed."

The face of Nature smiles serenely gay;
And even the motley race of weeds enhance
Her rural charms: Yet let them not be spared}
Still as they rise, unconquered, let the hoe
Or ploughshare crush them. In your fields permit
No wild-flower to expand its teeming bloom:'*;
In wood and wild, there let them bud and blow
By haunted streamlet, where the wandering bee.
Humming from cup to bell, collects their sweets.

— James Grahame, British Georgics, 1812.

When the farmer has been at the Charge of enriching and tilling his Ground, he
expects the advantages of Ixis labours and Expence ; and wishes the inaprovements he
has made in the land may give all its Fertility to his Crop; but he is to consider Nature
sows while he is sowing; her provision for keeping up the Species of Plants is very won-
derful; their Seeds are Scattered to great Distances, and where they fall they grow.
While the Seeds of some Plants are winged with Down to make them float upon the
Air, the roots of others are so full of life, that the least Morsel of them remaining in the
Ground will grow-. Tis not with Plants as with Animals: in these the loss of a limb or
other essential Part cannot be restored, except in some few particular Kinds: but in Plants,
while anything remains the whole will be renewed. Hence is the origin of Weeds to be
trac'd by the Farmer, and hence he will find them universal.

— Thomas Hale, The Compleat Body of Hxisbandry, 1756.

38 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

ERGOT on COUCH, RYE and TIMOTHY

{Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.)

There are often found among grains of rye, rarely among
those of wheat, and abundantly among the seeds of some grasses,
blackish or purplish solid bodies, commonly called ergot. Fresh
specimens are of a waxy or oily consistency, purplish white
inside. They are the storage organs or resting stage of a parasitic
fungus belonging to the genus Claviceps. Ergot grains vary in
size and form, according to the species of grain or other grasses
on which they develop. Each of these solid bodies is called a
sclerotium (plural sclerotia), derived from a Greek word skleros,
hard or dry, in allusion to their nature. They are a part of
the vegetative system, the "spawn" of the fungus, in a resting
condition, but capable of growth in the spring under such favour-
able conditions of warmth and moisture as they get when sown
with crop seed, or when lying on the ground at the bases of the
stems on which they were formed the previous summer. In the
spring small toadstool-like bodies, on violet stalks, with round,
orange-coloured heads, about the size of mustard seed, are pro-
duced from the sclerotia lying on the ground. These develop
enormous numbers of microscopically small spores (organs
analogous to the seeds of higher plants), at the time when grasses
and grains are in flower. The minute spores, carried by currents
of air or by insects, lodge in the flowers of the grasses and grow;
in a short time they completely destroy the seed and form from
them the horn-like sclerotia. During the summer spores are
formed on these horns; at the same time appears a sugary
secretion, very attractive to insects, which carry off on their bodies
many of the summer spores to the flowering heads of other grasses
and thus spread the infection. Late in the summer the pro-
duction of spores stops, and the sclerotia or storage organs
begin to lay up a kind of starch found only in fungi and known
as fungus starch, as well as oils, to serve as fopd for the growth

Plate 8

COUCH OR QUACK GRASS, RYE and TIMOTHY
attacked by trgot

THE SEDGE FAMILY 39

of the fruiting organs to be sent out the following spring. They
then harden up, turn dark purple, and fall to the ground or are
carried away with the grain or hay.

The sclerotia are common on many grasses, particularly
on rye, wheat, barley and wild rice, as well as on Western Couch
Grass and other prairie grasses cut for hay. They all contain an
alkaloid and other violent poisons. Some are used in medicine
under the name of "Ergot of Rye." Bread made from flour
containing ergot may cause a serious disease known as ergotism;
and animals which feed on grain or hay containing ergot may also
be severely poisoned, as is sometimes the case on our western
plains. Abortion is one well known result of cows feeding on
ergotized grain.

Hay containing much ergot should not be fed. Ergotized
grain should be thoroughly screened and the sclerotia destroyed.
Seed from an ergotized crop should not be used if any other can
be procured.

THE SEDGE FAMILY (Cyperaceae) .

The sedges are similar to the grasses in general appearance,
with fibrous roots and mostly solid stems. The part of the leaf
embracing the stem is closed. Galingale {Cyperus diandrus
Torr.), Nutgrass (Cyperus esculentus L.) and other species
are troublesome weeds, particularly in hoed crops on wet lands.
Nutgrasses spread by short rootstocks and are exceedingly
difficult to eradicate. Land where sedges give trouble should be
thoroughly drained; they will then succumb to autumn fallow
with clean cultivation followed by hoed crop. Some of the sedges
as Awned Sedge {Carex trichocarpa Muhl. var. aristata (R. Br.)
Bailey) and a few of the allied species, are valuable fodder plants
for wet lands.

In general those Weeds are most numerous which rise from Seeds; and those most
difficult to be extirpated which come from Roots.

— Thomas Hale, The Compleat Body of Husbandry, 1756.

40 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE RUSH FAMILY {Juncaceae).

Like the sedges, the members of the Rush family are common
in wet lands and bogs. The so-called Poverty-grass or Slender
Rush (Juncus tenuis Willd.), which is perennial, sometimes gives
trouble in low places in fields and pastures. The rushes are of
practically no value as forage plants. Wherever found, they
indicate the need of drainage. In pastures that can not be thor-
oughly drained, repeated cutting of the rushes and thick seeding
with true grasses that thrive in wet soils is recommended.

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY (Polygonaceae) .

This family contains several weeds besides a few cultivated
plants, such as buckwheat, India-wheat, rhubarb, and a number
of ornamental varieties. They are distributed all over the
continent in all kinds of soil, though they generally thrive best
in low, damp locations.

Their habit of growth varies, but they are nearly all her-
baceous plants, with hollow stems swollen at the joints. The
leaves are alternate, without any teeth or divisions but with
appendages at the base of the footstalk, embracing the stem.
The flowers are small, grouped together in spikes or drooping
clusters, nearly always supported by jointed stalks, the calyx
and the corolla often wanting or not showy.

The seeds are small, generally compressed, angled or lens-
shaped or winged. They are widely distributed with the seeds
of commerce, as they are in many cases of the same shape or size.

The troublesome weeds of this family belong to two genera,
the Docks (Rumex) and the Smartweeds or Knotweeds (Poly-
gonum) .

Docks are tall-stemmed weeds with tap-roots, peren-
nial, but not spreading from the root except in a few cases, as

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 41

Sheep Sorrel. The seeds are shaped like those of the buckwheat,
being triangular in cross section; or, as the name buckwheat
(which is merely a corruption of beechwheat) indicates, shaped
like small beechnuts. There is no true corolla, the seeds being
surrounded merely by the six-parted calyx, three divisions of
which are small and the other three large, winglike and variously
shaped and veined in the different species. One or all three of
these wings may bear a seedlike, corky tubercle on the outside.
The seeds of all species are much alike, and the winglike calyx
divisions, often found attached to the seeds, are a great hdp
in identifying the different species.

While a certain number of the Docks are native, all the
worst varieties have been imported with foreign clover seeds;
several are already agricultural pests.

Smartweeds and Knotweeds have various habits of
growth, being, with few exceptions, herbaceous plants with
fibrous roots, annual or perennial, terrestrial or aquatic, erect
or prostrate, climbing or floating. Of the many different groups
which can be easily distinguished, three are important as in-
cluding weeds: —

1. The group "Avicularia" : mostly prostrate, smooth annuals
with small linear oblong leaves, represented by Doorweed
(Polygonum aviculare L.).

2. The group "Persicaria" : generally tall, annual, erect,
branching plants, with larger lance-shaped leaves, represented by
Lady's Thumb (Polygonum Persicaria L.).

3. The group "Tiniaria" : twining annuals and perennials,
with heart-shaped leaves, typically represented by Black
Bindweed (Polygonum Convolvulus L.).

The seeds are lens-shaped or triangular, with blunt edges,
generally darJi-colored, shiny and have the general characteristics
of the family, but the divisions of the enlarged fruiting calyx in
which they are enclosed are not winglike as in the Docks. They
ripen late and are commonly found in clover and grass seeds.

42 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

CURLED DOCK {Rumex crispus L.).

Other English names; Yellow Dock, Sour Dock.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, with a deep tap-root.
Stem 2 to 3 feet, smooth, erect, terminating in wandlike race-
mes. Root-leaves oblong-lance-shaped in outline with much
crested or waved margins, 6 to 12 inches long, on long stalks;
stem-leaves on short stalks and much smaller or absent towards
the top of the stems. Flowers small, in rather widely separated
clusters around the stems. Flower stalks with swollen joints.
The 3 inner divisions of the calyx enlarging as the seed ripens,
heart-shaped, with the margin only obscurely or not toothed,
all with seed-like tubercles on the outside.

The seeds (Plate 72, fig. 7) are 1 /12 of an inch long, shaped
like a miniature beechnut, reddish brown, shining. They are
one of the commonest impurities in clover seeds. European
grown clover contains seeds of allied species.

Time of flowering; June; seeds ripe by July.

Propagation: By seeds. The clumps increase slowly by shoots
from the crown of the root of old plants.

Occurrence: In fields and waste places. Naturalized from
Atlantic to Pacific, very abundant in southern and western
Ontario.

Injury: A common weed in meadows, pastures and waste
places. It is a pest in new meadows and depreciates the value of
the fodder or the clover seed crop. The Docks harbour plant
lice. When young and tender the leaves are sometimes used
for pot herbs.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. The prevalence of Dock in mead-
ows is due to sowing contaminated grass and clover seeds.
Land worked under a short rotation of crops is never badly in-
fested with Docks. When the soil is soft after continued rain,
they can be pulled from meadows and pastures. Pull or cut
and destroy all seed-bearing plants before harvesting a clover

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 43

seed crap. A handful of salt placed on the crown of Docks,
after cutting in dry hot weather, will extract the moisture and
destroy the root; this is a remedy sometimes used in lawns and
pastures when the soil is too hard and dry to permit pulling them.

ALLIED SPECIES : Veined Dock (Rumex venosus Pursh.)
is a perennial which differs from Curled Dock in having
running rootstocks and a larger, smoother leaf with prominent
veins; the flowers, in short panicles, are larger than those of
Curled Dock, pink in colour, and, unlike most of the species of
the genus, quite attractive in appearance. It is native to
western Canada and gives trouble in some of the lighter soils of
southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The seed is nearly 1/4 of
an inch long. The most satisfactory remedy is deep plowing
when the plant is coming into bloom.

The seeds of the Docks commonly found in imported clover
seeds are strikingly alike, but have the following points of
differentiation.

Curled Dock (Rumex crisjnis L.). Seeds nearly symmet-
rical, both ends pointed, widest near the centre, the edges very
slightly margined, reddish brown and highly shiny.

Clustered Dock (Rumex conglomeratus Murr.). Apex of the
seed pointed, base rounded, smaller, plumper, dark reddish
brown. The plant is characterized by its oblong, smoothish leaves
and its leafy panicle of flowers on short stalks.

Bitter Dock (Rumex ohtusifolius L.) Seed unsymmetrical,
widest below the centre, edges unmargined, the base with a rough
scar, brownish yellow, dull. The lower leaves of the plant are
broad and heart-shaped and the st«m somewhat roughened.

The seeds of most sorts of weeds are so hardy, as to lie sound and uncomipt for many
years, or perhaps ages, in the earth; and are not killed until they begin to grow or sprout,
which verj' few of them do unless the land be ploughed, and then enough of them will
ripen amongst the sown crop to propagat* and continue their species, bj' shedding their
offspring in the ground (for it is observed they are generally ripe before the com) and
the seeds of these do the same in the next sown crop; and thus p)erpetuate their savage,
wicked brood, from generation to generation.

— Jethro Tull, The Horse Hoeing Htudxmdry, 1731.

44 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

SHEEP SORREL (Rumex Acetosella L.)

Other English names: Sour-grass, Field Sorrel, Red Sorrel.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, very persistent by
extensively spreading, yellow, fleshy rootstocks. Stems slender,
6 to 18 inches, erect or nearly so, branched above. Leaves with
silvery ear-like appendages, spreading outward from the base,
narrowly arrow-head-shaped, toothless, 1 to 4 inches long, quite
smooth and rather fleshy, on long stalks. Flowers numerous
in panicle-like racemes, of two kinds on separate plants; the
male flowers have conspicuous stamens; the female are much less
showy and are tipped with three tiny, crimson, feather-like
organs (the stigmas).

The seeds (Plate 72, fig. 8), as they occur among clover
and grass seeds, are generally covered by the three larger con-
spicuously veined calyx divisions which fit closely over the seed.
The three small divisions, which alternate with these, fit over
the angles of the seed outside the edges of the larger divisions.
The naked seed when the calyx divisions are removed, is 1/20
of an inch long and nearly as broad, triangular-ovate, pale brown,
shining.

Time of flowering: May to August; seeds ripe July to Sep-
tember.

Propagation: By seeds and shallow running rootstocks.

Occurrence: Naturalized in all parts of the country.

Injury: The seeds are one of the most abundant impurities
in clover and grass seeds. The plants increase rapidly in thin or
worn-out meadows and pastures, both in uplands and in hay
marshes, crowding out the grass and greatly reducing the crop.
Sheep Sorrel is also troublesome in gardens.

Remedy: Sheep Sorrel is said to be an index of soil charac-
ter. It seems to thrive best on sandy or gravelly soils deficient
in lime. An application of lime to slightly acid soils produces a
more vigorous growth of cultivated crops and curtails the oppor-

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 45

tunities of the Sorrel to grow and spread. Old meadows and pas-
tures that are over-run with it and that cannot well be brought
under cultivation may be pastured with sheep for two or three
years to prevent it from seeding freely.

The seed is exceedingly difficult to separate from alsike
seed, and lands foul with Sorrel should not be used for the pro-
duction of this crop.

A three-year rotation of crops with good cultivation, in-
cluding shallow plowing directly after hay crop and frequent
cultivation until autumn to prepare for hoed crops, will keep
Sheep Sorrel well under control even on lands that seem to be
specially suited to its growth.

In addition to the application of lime and good cultivation,
the liberal use of farmyard manure, plowing down clover or other
green crops, or any other means of enriching the soil, will stimu-
late field crops to a more vigorous growth and thus do much to
smother out and suppress this pest.

ALLIED SPECIES: Garden Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa L.) is
a common field and garden weed in some parts of the Atlantic
Coast provinces. It differs from Sheep Sorrel in its more
erect habit of growth and its broader, arrow-shaped, oblong
leaf, with the ear-like appendages directed downward.

"An old custom takes place in this parish called Goolriding which seems worthy
of observation. The lands of Cargill were formerly so very much over-run by a weed
with a yellow flower that grows among the corns, especially in wet seasons, called Gools
and which had the most pernicious effects, not only upon the corns while growing but
also in preventing their winning when cut down, that it was found absolutely necessary
to adopt some effectual method of extirpating it altogether. Accordingly, after allowing
a reasonable time for procuring clean seed from other quarters, an act of the baron-court
was passed, enforcing an old act of parliament to the same effect, imposing a fine of 3s 4d
or a wedder-sheep, on the tenants for every stock of gool that should be found growing
among their corns at a particular day, and certain persons styled gool riders were ap-
pointed to ride through the fields, search for gool and carry the law into execution when
they discovered it. Though the fine of wedder-sheep is now commuted and reduced
to Id sterling, the practice of gool riding is still kept up and the fine rigidly exacted.
The effects of this baronial regulation have been salutary beyond what could have been
expected. Five stocks of gool were formerly said to grow for every stock of corn through
all the lands of the barony and twenty thraves of barley did not then produce one boll.
Now the grounds are so cleared from this noxious weed that the corns are in high request
for seed ; and after the most diligent search the gool riders can hardly discover as many
growing stocks of gool the fine for which will afford them a dinner and a drink."

— P. Cargill, Perths-Statist. Ace. 12, 536, 537.
From Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary.

46 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

* LADY'S THUMB (Polygonum Persicaria L.)

Other English names: Persicary, Smartweed.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, stem erect, fleshy, nearly
smooth, hairless. Leaves lance-shaped, pointed, nearly stalk-
less, the surface roughish, often dotted and marked with a dark
triangular or round spot near the centre. The mode of flowering
is an ovoid or short cylindrical spike, dense, erect, composed of
pink or dark purple flowers.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 10) is about 1 /12 of an inch in dia-
meter, ovate, heart-shaped, hollowed out on one side or roundly
triangular, jet black, shining.

Time of flowering: July to September; seeds ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Common all over the country, especially in
low fields and meadows.

Injury: Although Lady's Thumb and others of the Knot-
weeds and Smartweeds are widely distributed, they are not seri-
ously noxious in most field and garden crops. Knotweed is
most abundant in yards and along paths where the soil is well
trodden. Smartweeds thrive best in a rich, moist soil and
are usually plentiful in grain or clover fields where the crop has
killed out. The seeds of Lady's Thumb, in particular, are com-
mon in clover seeds. Smartweeds, like many other weeds,
help to perpetuate nuisances even more injurious than the weeds
themselves. They harbour insects, particularly plant lice, and
fungus diseases, such as mildews, smuts and rusts.

Remedy: Lady's Thumb should not be permitted to seed.
The plants in clover seed crops should be hand-pulled or cut
before coming into full bloom. Destroy the screenings that
accumulate when grain is threshed or fanned. The seeds do not
retain their vitality long, and by cutting the plants two or three
times during the season for a few years the pest may be eliminated
from waste places.

* Lady's Thumb very closely resembles Pale Persicary, illustrated on plate opposite

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 47

ALLIED SPECIES. The seeds of the following allied species
occur in commercial seeds: —

Knotweed or Doorweed (Polygonum aviculare L.) accompan-
ies civilized man everywhere. It is found along roads and trails,
forming mats of spreading wiry, jointed stems, with a leaf, a
pair of silvery scales and a small cluster of flowers at each joint;
each flower producing a slender, reddish-brown, triangular seed,
1/12 of an inch long.

Knotweed or Doorweed may be eradicated from lawns by
repeated raking and close cutting. In the autumn the trodden
soil may be loosened, without inverting it, to the depth of a dig-
ging fork. This should be followed in early spring by an ap-
plication of well-rotted manure and a thick seeding of grass,
including some of the coarser and more vigorous growing, though
short-lived, species, such as perennial rye grass. A liberal ap-
plication of salt on gravel walks will kill it.

Pale or Dockleaved Persicary {Polygonum lapathifolium L.).
A common, tall-growing and rather aggressive weed among grain
and clover on rich low land in all parts of eastern Canada. The
seed (Plate 72, fig. 9) is 1/10 of an inch long, more roundly heart-
shaped, chocolate brown, hollowed on both sides and never
triangular.

Glandular Persicary (Polygonum pennsylvanicum L.). A
larger seed (1/8 inch), sometimes triangular, blackish, closely
resembling both of the preceding but more frequently bearing
the remainder of the upper part of the pistil at the tip.

The evil results from permitting coarse-growing herbaceous
weeds to thrive in nooks about farmyards, gardens, fences and
other waste places arise mainly from the fact that these succu-
lent plants are a breeding ground in summer, and a harbour
during winter, for insect and fungus pests. Fences and waste
places are evils that should be reduced to a minimum. Where
it is not possible to eliminate them, the land should be made as
clean as possible, seeded with vigorous growing grasses, and the
weeds kept closely cut until the grass has full possession of the
soil.

48 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

WILD BUCKWHEAT (Polygonum Convolvulus L.)

Other English name : Black Bindweed.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. A twining vine with
rather rough branching stems and thin, smooth, arrow-shaped
leaves. Flowers greenish, drooping, on short slender stalks, in
small clusters, arising from the axils of the leaves, and in loosely
flowered terminal racemes. Calyx 5-parted, persistent.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 11) is dull, black, triangular, about
1/8 inch long, bluntly pointed at the apex and almost twice as long
as broad, widest just above the middle; the germ is club-shaped,
small, curved and lies along one angle of the seed in a groove.
When found in commercial grain the seed is often without its
black coat and appears naked, white, wax-like, with slightly
rounded angles.

Time of flowering: From June throughout the summer, the
seeds ripening irregularly from about the middle of July.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: General in cereal crops throughout Canada.
Most prevalent in the Prairie Provinces.

Injury: A pest in fields of cereal grain. The vines twine
about the stems for support and interfere with the reaping
machinery. The crop, when matted with this weed, is more apt
to lodge during a storm and when once down is not able to re-
cover. Seeds embedded deeply in the soil germinate late in the
season, when the general cultivation of hoed crops is no longer
practicable. Thus the plant is a nuisance in fields of potatoes,
field roots and corn, where it seeds freely in the autumn months.
Although the seeds from the early bloom have ripened and drop-
ped before or during the harvesting of grain crops, they are fre-
quently present in large quantities in commercial wheat and oats.
In addition to reducing the yield, the grading and market value
of the grain is depreciated by their presence.

Piate \2

WILD BUCKWHEAT OR BLACK BINDWEED
(Polygonum Convolvulus l)

I

THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 49

Remedy: Sow clean seed grain. The seeds retain their
vitality for a relatively short period, probably not longer than
three years, except in the dryer soils of the western plains. The
suppression of this pest is therefore largely dependent on the
prevention of a continued supply of fresh seeds to the soil. This
weed gives little trouble on land under a short rotation of crops,
including hay for two years.

The seeds of Wild Buckwheat do not germinate in the spring
until the soil is quite warm. Most of the early plants can be
destroyed in grain crops by an application of the harrow when the
grain is about three inches high. The young plants soon root
firmly and the harrowing, to be effective, must be done just as
they emerge from the ground. Cultivation after harvest, as
described for Wild Oats, will stimulate germination of the seeds
that have dropped. A large proportion of Wild Buckwheat
seeds can be induced to grow during the autumn and the seed-
ling plants will be destroyed by frost. Plowing of summer-fallow
should be done before any of the seeds have developed enough
to ripen after being turned down and care should be taken to
completely cover all the plants.

If given access to fields of corn or potatoes after cultiva-
tion has been discontinued, sheep will feed on the seedling plants
and will do little injury to the crop.

The seeds of this weed have a feeding value only slightly
inferior to cultivated buckwheat; but before being used for feed,
screenings containing Wild Buckwheat or other weed seeds should
be finely ground to destroy their vitality. Unless first carefully
screened, oats that are simply "crushed" for feeding may con-
tain large numbers of whole seeds of this pest, many of which
are returned to the fields in a vital state.

I will go root away
The noisome weeds, that without profit suck
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.

— Shakespeare, Richard II, Act III, Sc. iv, 1593.

50 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE SPINACH OR GOOSEFOOT FAMILY

{Chenopodiaceae) .

The Spinach family is widely distributed and contains some
field crops and other valuable plants, as spinach and beetroot,
as well as many troublesome weed pests. The plants adapt
themselves to a variety of soils; they seem to thrive best on deep,
rich, loamy land well supplied with mineral constituents.

They are more or less succulent herbs, mostly of erect
habits of growth, with alternate leaves devoid of the rough ap-
pendages at the base of the leaf stalks, as are found in the Buck-
wheat family. The flowers are very small, generally green,
and borne in clusters at the axils of the leaves, each flower pro-
ducing a single seed.

The seeds, which are produced in enormous numbers, are
enclosed in bladder-like envelopes called "utricles." The most
important genera are : Chenopodium, Atriplex and Salsola.

LAMB'S QUARTERS {Chenopodium album L.).

Other English names: Pigweed, Fat-hen, White Goosefoot.

Introduced from Europe and native. Annual. Extremely
variable in every character. Mostly tall, succulent and herba-
ceous, with a slender, erect, grooved, much-branched stem,
2 to 6 feet high, with angular-ovate, pale green, coarsely toothed
leaves, narrowed at the base and borne on slender footstalks.
Flowers in compound spikes from the axils of the leaves. The
whole plant of a more or less white or pinkish mealy appearance.
Plants late in the season are a much darker green and have less
angled leaves.

The seed (plate 72, fig. 12) is about 1/20 of an inch in dia-
meter, circular in outline, more or less flattened on one side,
strongly convex on the other, edges bluntly rounded, the lower

THE SPINACH OR GOOSEFOOT FAMILY 51

convex face grooved from the margin to the central scar, minute-
ly wrinkled; colour shining black. The seeds, as found among
crop seeds, have a thin envelope closely adhering to them, as a
brown or gray mealy deposit, which gives them a granular-
roughened appearance; they also often have the dried 5-angled
calyx closed tightly over them. When plants are cut or shaken
roughly after the seeds are ripe, but while the plant is still green,
the seeds fall out of the calyx very easily. Seeds from which
the brittle black coat has been partially broken away, showing
the yellow ring-like germ, may sometimes be found in screenings
of grain.

Time of flowering: From June to frost; seeds ripe August
to November.

Propagation: By seed.

Occurrence : Everywhere in rich land.

Injury : A gross feeder and a vigorous rapid grower in field
and garden crops. It is most conspicuous in fields of potatoes,
corn, and other hoed crops, where the seeds germinate and the
rapid-growing plants mature after general cultivation has been
discontinued. The succulent plants are a harbour for plant
lice and other insects destructive to field and garden crops,
particularly to mangels. They also provide a breeding ground
for mildews and for the spot fungus disease {Cercospora) common
on the leaves of beets and mangels. The seed is abundant
in commercial seeds and grains.

Remedy: The seeds germinate at considerable depth in the
soil, and those buried deeply do not retain their vitality for more
than three or four years, unless the soil continues very dry. In
eastern Canada, land badly infested might be seeded to grass
for three years or more. An application of the harrow to cereal
grain fields before the crop appears above the ground, and
again when it is three inches high, will destroy most of the seed-
ling plants. If the field is to be seeded to clovers and grass,
the seed should be sown quite thickly directly in front of the
harrow. Sheep readily eat the leaves of the plant and the seed-
lings. Seed-bearing plants should be pulled and removed from
the clover seed crop before it is cut. Late plants in hoed crops

52 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

should be cut with a hoe from time to time during the summer.
In western Canada, the harrowing of the grain crops, combined
with periodic clean summer-fallowing, will keep this weed in
check.

ALLIED SPECIES: Maple-leaved Goosefoot (Chenopodium
hybridum L.). A plant very similar to Lamb's Quarters, with
large green, very coarsely 2 to 6-toothed leaves. Its seed is
larger (1/15 of an inch in diameter), of exactly the same appear-
ance as that of Lamb's Quarters, and is sometimes found in
crop seeds.

RUSSIAN PIGWEED {Axyris amarantoides L.).

Introduced from Europe. Annual. A tall, coarse plant,
from 2 to 4 feet high, erect and widely branching, very leafy.
When young much like Lamb's Quarters, but paler green with a
more wand-like habit of growth, and, instead of being mealy in
appearance it has soft, short, star-shaped hairs. When full-
grown the whole plant forms a large pyramidal compound
raceme; the stems, bracts and the papery calyx segments turn
white and make it very conspicuous.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 15) is oval, flattened, 1/12 of an inch
long, gray or brown with a silky lustre, surface minutely lined
and wrinkled lengthwise, basal scar a short thin groove across
the lower end; many seeds have a close-fitting papery envelope,
projecting above the top as a 2-lobed wing.

Time of flowering: June; seeds ripe July-August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: The species was first noticed in Canada in 1886,
by the roadside at Headingly, Man., 14 miles west of Winnipeg,
where it is said to have been brought direct from Russia. It
is now found along the railways throughout the West, and has
even been detected on a railway bank as far east as St. John, N.B.

Plate 14

RUSSIAN PIGWBE-D

(Axyris amaranfoides A.)

THE SPINACH OR GOOSEFOOT FAMILY 53

Injury: A leafy, gross-feeding, wide-rooting annual, which
crowds growing crops and gives a weedy appearance to farm lands.
The thick woody stems are troublesome when crops are harvested.
The abundant seeds, somewhat like small, gray, flax seeds, are
found in grain from a few districts infested by this rank-growing
weed. It is therefore important that it should be prevented
from spreading from roadsides and waste places, as it has every
characteristic of an aggressive enemy. Like Lamb's Quarters,
it harbours injurious insects and fungus pests common to the
cultivated species of the same family.

Remedy: Waste places should be made as clean as possible
and thickly seeded to grass; weeds should be kept cut until the
grass has taken complete possession of the soil. Infested fields
should be thoroughly summer-fallowed and the succeeding grain
crops treated with the harrow, as recommended for Lamb's
Quarters. Seeding to grass for five or more years will do much
to suppress this pest by destroying the vitality of the seeds.
Hand-pulling should be employed to prevent scattered plants
from maturing their seeds; a single plant is capable of producing
as many as twenty-five thousand seeds.

The sixth help of Ground is, by Watring and Irrigation, which is in two manners;
The one is by Letting in, and Shutting out Waters, at seasonable times; for Water, at
some seasons, and with reasonable stay, doth good; but at some other seasons, and with
too long stay, doth hurt. And this ser\-eth only for Meadows, which are along some
River. The other way is to bring Water from some hanging Grounds, where there are
Springs, into the louxr Ground, carrying it in some long Furrows; and from those Furrows,
drawing it traverse to spread the Water: And this maketh an excellent improvement
both for Com and Grass. It is the richer, if those hanging Grounds, be fruitful, because
it washeth off some of the fatness of the Earth; but howsoever it profiteth much. Gener-
ally where there are great overflows in Fens, or the like, the drowning of them in the
Winter, maketh the Summer following more fruitful: The cause may be, for that it
keepeth the Ground warm, and nourisheth it. But the Fen-men hold, that the Sewers
must be kept so, as the Water may not stay too long in the Spring till the Weeds and
Sedge be grown up; for then the Ground will be like a Wood which keepeth out the Sun,
and so continueth the wet; whereby it will never grace (to purpose) that year.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

54 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

RUSSIAN THISTLE (Salsola Kali L. var. ienmfolia G.F.W. Mey.).

Other English names: Russian Tumbleweed, Russian Cactus.

Other Latin nsunes: Salsola Tragus L., Salsola Kali var. Tragus
Mog.

Introduced from Asia. Annual. Bushy, of a prickly ap-
pearance, due to the long, thin, thread-like, prickle-tipped leaves
which characterize the young plant, and the short, triple, spiny
bracts on the flowering branches of the older plants. It varies
in appearance at different stages of growth. The young plant
is dark green; the slender leaves, about two inches long, drop
off soon after the seed is formed. The somewhat spherical
branched top of the mature plant, when broken away from the
root, is blown about by the wind and scatters its seeds widely.
It is not a thistle and could be more appropriately called a tum-
bleweed. Flowers solitary, borne in the axils of the leaves.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 13) is about 1/16 of an inch in di-
ameter, cone-shaped, the large end concave with a well marked
protuberance in the centre of the cavity. The coat is thin
and transparent, showing the grayish-brown, coiled germ. It
is generally enclosed in a papery envelope, the divisions of which
are winglike and help to disseminate the seed.

Time of flowering: July to September; seeds ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds. The seeds are distributed by the
tumbling plants, which are driven by the wind. As the seeds
do not shell readily, they are carried long distances.

Occurrence: Abundant in several localities in the dryer
parts of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, chiefly along
roadsides, fire-guards and in neglected fields. Frequently found,
though not seriously troublesome, in the eastern provinces.

Injury : Russian Thistle is a large, succulent weed and
thrives where the land is too dry for other plants. It thus uses
up moisture where it is, scarcest and most needed. Owing to

THE SPINACH OR GOOSEFOOT FAMILY 55

its stout woody character and sharp spines, it is almost impos-
sible for horses to work where it abounds, unless their legs are
well protected. It is hard on harvesting machinery and wasteful
of binder twine.

Remedy : Hand-pull wherever practicable. Harrowing grow-
ing crops is an effective remedy; it is easily killed when young
by this method. The harrow should be applied just before the
grain emerges from the ground and again when the crop is three
inches high.

Where winter wheat is grown successfully, there is little
difficulty with Russian Thistle, as it is very susceptible to frost
and plaiits started in late summer will be destroyed before they
produce seed. Spring crops should never be sown on land that
contains live Russian Thistle seeds unless there is sufficient
moisture in the soil to produce a vigorous growth. Scientific
dry farming, with a well tilled summer-fallow every third year,
will conserve the moisture in the soil so that the crops will be
strong enough to crowd out the Russian Thistle, Work on
summer-fallow should begin early, not only to conserve the
moisture but because these plants, if allowed to become full
grown, are so cactus-like as to make it almost impossible to put
horses among them.

For thilke ground, that beareth the wedes wick,
Beareth eke these hokome herbes, as fuU oft
Next the foule nettle, rough and thick.
The rose wexeth, soote, smooth, and soft.
And next the valej* is the hill a loft, .
And next the derke night the glad morrowe.
And also joy is next the fine of sorrow.

— Geoffrey Chaucer, TraUu* and Creaeide, 1380.

Columella, author of De Re Riustica, written in the first century A.D., sa>-s "if these
(weeding and sareling — a kind of hoeing) are neglected, the produce of the fields will
be greatly diminished; in my opinion he is averj- bad farmer who allows weeds to grow
along with com: for the produce will be greatly lessened if weeding is neglected."

— Adam Dickson, Httsbandry of The AneietU*, 1788.

56 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE PIGWEED FAMILY (Amaranthaceae).

The Pigweeds are a small family of plants, mostly of tropical
origin, closely allied to the Spinach family. Each plant produces
enormous quantities of small, highly-polished, lens-shaped, more
or less margined seeds. The flowers are small and inconspicuous;
leaves simple and borne on a stalk. Some of the exotic mem-
bers of this family are gorgeously coloured and are grown for
their ornamental foliage or flowers, as the Cockscombs (Celosia),
Rainbow Amaranth (Amaranthus- tricolor L.) and the well-known
Love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus L.).

The seeds are borne singly, as in the Spinach family, en-
closed in a thin, cartilaginous covering known botanically as
a '^utricle." Unless closely examined, they may sometimes be
confused with rubbed seeds of Lamb's Quarters. The surface
of the Pigweed seeds is always more highly polished and smooth-
er. The scar is the easiest point for distinguishing them; this
is a central point, with a long groove on one side, in Lamb's
Quarters and a notch in the margin in the Pigweeds.

REDROOT PIGWEED (Amaranthus retroflexus L.).

Other English names: Rough Pigweed, Chinaman's Greens.

Introduced from tropical America. Annual, with a rosy-
pink tap-root. Stems erect, simple or branched, rough hairy.
Leaves on long stalks, ovate, bristle-pointed. Flowers inconspic-
uous, numerous, crowded into thick compound spikes at the
ends of the branches and in the axils of the leaves. Bracts
of the flowers, bristle-pointed, longer than the green calyx
divisions.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 14) is highly polished, reddish black
to jet black, about the same size as that of Lamb's Quarters.

THE PIGWEED FAMILY 57

circular or egg-shaped in outline, much flattened and equally con-
vex on both sides. An immature or shrunken seed has a narrow,
slightly flattened marginal band, which marks the location of
the ring-like germ. The basal scar appears, as a light point on the
edge of the seed separating the ends of the germ.

Time of flowering: July to September; seed ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: In all crops. Thoroughly established in all
the settled portions of the Dominion. Abundant in waste places
around farm buildings and in gardens. Widely spread by the
seeds, which occur commonly in all commercial seeds.

Injury: A pestiferous weed in gardens and fields; especially
troublesome in potato and field root crops. It is a coarse, vigor-
ous grower, and when it has attained to full size, is difl&cult to
destroy by pulling or cutting. A medium-sized plant will pro-
duce fully twelve thousand seeds.

Remedy: When embedded in the soil, the seeds retain their
vitality for several years, though probably not more than five in
a moist soU, and produce seedling plants only when brought by
cultivation within about two inches of the surface. Late culti-
vation in hoed crops should be made as shallow as practicable;
after general cultivation is discontinued, plants of this and other
weeds that have escaped should be cut with the hoe from time
to time during the late summer months. Like other annual
weeds, it can rapidly be suppressed by preventing the production
of a fresh supply of seeds.

ALLIED SPECIES: Green Amaranth (Amaranthus hybri-
dus L.) is quite similar to Redroot Pigweed, but smoother and
deeper green in colour, with spikes more slender-cylindrical, and
bracts with rather long awns. The seed is much like that of
Redroot Pigweed and, although averaging rather smaller, about
1/32 of an inch in diameter, can not always be distinguished from
it when found among crop seeds.

58 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Tumble Weed {Amaranthus graecizans L.) is another Amar-
anth very abundant throughout the country, but particularly
so in the West. It is a bushy annual, branched, erect or creeping,
but not rooting at the nodes, with whitish stems and small oval
leaves, gradually narrowed towards the base. Small clusters
of flowers or fruits are borne in the axils of most of the leaves.
When mature, these plants break off at the ground and are blown
long distances by the wind, scattering their seeds as they go.

Spreading or Low Amaranth (Amaranthus blitoides Watson).
This species resembles Tumble Weed, but has rather larger,
rounder leaves with prostrate, diffusely branching, somewhat
fleshy stems, which form large mats attached to the central
root. This is a native of the western prairies but is frequent
along railways in the East. The seed, which is often found in
alfalfa, clover and grass seeds from the western states, can be
easily distinguished from that of Tumble Weed by its larger
size, 1/15 of an inch in diameter, which is nearly twice that of the
other species. It is the same size as Maple-leaved Goosef oot seed.

Her fallow leas

The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory.

Doth root upon, and nothing teems

But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs.
Losing both beauty and utility.

And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness;
Even so our houses, and ourselves, and children.
Have lost, or do not learn, for want of time.
The sciences that should become our country.

— Shakespeare, Henry V, Act V, sc. ii, 1.599.

Weeds are nourislied by the same food that would nourish useful plants; and there-
fore, when allowed to grow along with them, must rob them of part of tlieir food. Altho'
it is allowed, that the food of all plants is not exactly of the same kind ; yet as plants take
in whatever juices, or small particles of matter are touched by their roots, it may be justly
said, that all kinds deprive the earth of that vegetable food wliich would nourish others.
Experience convinces the farmer of the truth of this; for he finds, tliat his crop is bad
in proportion to the quantity and kinds of weeds with which his land is infested.

— .A.dam Dickson, A Treatise on Agriculture, 1785.

THE PINK FAMILY 59

THE PINK FAMILY (CaryophyUaceae).

The Pink family is widely distributed all over the world, most
of its members however belonging to the temperate and cold
climate. It contains several beautiful garden flowers, amongst
them the innumerable kinds and varieties of carnations, and
also embraces some troublesome weeds, the seeds of which are
frequently found in clover and grass seeds. The characters of
all the weeds belonging to the Pink family are well marked. They
are herbs with brittle stems, articulated and thickened at the
joints, frequently forked. Leaves without teeth or divisions,
generally opposite and joined round the stem at the base. The
flowers are regular. The calyx is always persistent and the
corolla sometimes wanting. The fruits are capsules or pods.

The seeds, usually many, are attached to the base or to a
central column of the solitary 1-celled, (rarely 3 to 5-celled)
toothed pod, which opens at the top. They are often kidney-
shaped and embossed with tubercles. The germ in most of the
seeds is curved so that the apex and base come close together.
The seeds do not develop mucilage when soaked in water.

They are covered with a hard protective coat, through
which the water will penetrate slowly, thus keeping the vitality
of the seed and delaying its germination for many years when
embebbed in the soil.

They are two tribes of these plants: the Chickweeds
(Alsineae), low herbs in which the calyx divisions are distinct or
nearly so, and the corolla divisions provided with short claws;
and the Cockles (Sileneae) with large and showy flowers, with
the corolla divisions united in a tube and provided with long
claws.

The plants belonging to the genera Saponaria and Agro-
stemma are said to possess a poisonous principle (sapotoxin) to a
greater extent than the other members of the Pink family. It is

60 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

a matter oi common observation that all the members of this large
family possess a pungent flavour objectionable to all classes of
live stock, and the presence of the plants, either in pastures or
in cured fodder, entails considerable waste. Definite informa-
tion as to the baneful effects, if any, resulting from the consump-
tion of the plants or the seeds is not available, although it is
known that wheat screenings, composed largely of cockle seeds,
are ground with coarser grains and sold as feeding stuffs.

SPURREY (Spergula arvensis L.).

Other English names: Corn Spurrey, Sandweed, Pickpurse.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. Stems curving up-
ward, branching from the base, 6 to 18 inches high, almost smooth,
sparingly hairy above. Leaves narrowly linear, 1 to 2 inches
long, apparently in a circle around the joints of the stem but
really in two opposite sets of 6 to 8 together, with scale-like,
modified leaves between them. Flowers white, opening in sun-
shine, 1/4 inch across, in terminal forked cymes; the fruit hanging
abruptly downward.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 16) is dull black, lens-shaped or round
and compressed, with the margin extended into a narrow pale
wing. The surface is more or less roughened with small, pale-
coloured, elongated protuberances, like gland-tipped hairs.
Both the small protuberances and the wing are sometimes absent
when the seeds occur among commercial seeds.

Time of flowering: July; seed ripe July-August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Frequent in grain fields in the eastern provin-
ces and in parts of British Columbia and occasional in fields and

Plate !7

CORN SPURRE-Y

(Spergula arvensis a.)

THE PINK FAMILY 61

waste places throughout Canada. Sometimes sown as feed for
sheep or as a binder of soil on sandy land.

Injury: Troublesome on sandy soils in the eastern prov-
inces and the Pacific coast. Common in grain and clover fields.
The seed is a frequent impurity in grass and clover seeds and ce-
real grains grown on lands infested with it, Spurrey is cultivated
as a forage crop on some of the light, sandy soils of European
countries. When sown in the fall it produces a large yield of
fodder for spring feeding. It is said to be a nutritious food and
liked by cattle and sheep when once they have become accus-
tomed to it.

Remedy: The seeds are produced in abundance and mature
early. An application of the weeder or harrow destroys seedling
plants in the spring grain. Spurrey will not give serious trouble
on lands worked under a systematic crop rotation. Shallow
cultivation of stubble lands will start germination and the young
plants can be easily destroyed in cultivating for spring
seeding.

Some the hoe prefer.
Which female hands, or, if of lighter make,
The childish grasp can wield; even his small hands.
Of years so simple, that he grieves to hurt
The pretty flowers, which, strung about his neck.
He wears with more delight than kings their crowns.
Thus too, the crop itself (soon as the plants
Four leaves spread fully forth) is duly thinned.

— James Grahame, British Georgies, 1812.

We ought to learn more about each plant than we do, the time of its appearance
and flowering, what it does with itself in the winter, whether dropping its leaves. . . .or
disappearing beneath the ground like Snowdrop or Hyacinth, or facing the cold with
a tuft of leaves hnng close upon the earth like a l^oxglove. What sort of locality does
it love — field, marsh, rock? How does it treat other plants when it encounters them?
Does it twine round them like a Convol\Tilus, creep over them like many trailing plants,
or bear itself erect like a Buttercup? How does it wither? Shabbily and untidy like
the Pansy, or in the neat, decorous mode of the Gentianella? These and all other facts
which we can learn about a plant have a value in an imaginative point of \-iew; they
tell us something about it, and so enable us to understand it, to read its true meaning
and character.

— Forbes Watson, Flowers and Garden, 1730.

62 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

COMMON CHICKWEED (Stellaria media (L.) CyrilL).

Other English name : Chickweed.
Other Latin name: Alsine media L.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. Succulent, stems dif-
fusely branching, curving upward with a tendency to lie down.
Roots, hair-like and exceedingly tough. Leaves ovate, the foot-
stalks of the lower ones hairy on the margin. Stems bearing
a conspicuous stripe of articulated hairs down one side. Flowers
1/4 inch in diameter, star-shaped, numerous, solitary from the
axils of the leaves, in old plants in terminal leafy cymes; corolla
white, about the length of the thin-margined calyx. Fruit
capsules, cone-shaped, spreading or hanging down, longer than
the calyx.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 17) is small, 1/24 of an inch in
diameter, yellowish brown to dark brown, wedge-kidney-shaped,
flattened and covered with coarse tubercles arranged in regular
curved rows, about 5 on each side and 4 on the edge.

Time of flowering: At all times of the year except during
frost; seed ripening continuously.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : This well-known little weed occurs in all parts
of Canada where the soil is moist and rich.

Injury: A persistent grower, most troublesome in garden
and field hoed crops. Its habit of seeding early and throughout
the season, combined with the protective seed coat which enables
the seed to retain its vitality for several years, makes it an ex-
ceedingly difficult pest to exterminate. The seeds are frequently
present in grass and clover seeds. Chickweed harbours plant lice.

Remedy: This weed can be suppressed by clean cultivation
of hoed crops — the last general cultivation should be shallow,
so as not to bring a fresh supply of seeds to the surface — and
discing of bare stubble lands directly after harvest, to check

Plate 18

COMMON CHICKWEtE-D

(S^ella^ia m e d i a ^^./<r»r«.7. )

THE PINK FAMILY 63

further seeding. Good drainage of infested areas is also helpful.
Thick seeding with clovers and grasses is effective in smothering

it out.

ALLIED SPECIES: Grass-leaved or Lesser Stitchwort (Stel-
laria graminea L.) is a weed found occasionally in the Maritime
Provinces. It is a wide-branching plant, 1 to 2 feet high, with
many grassy leaves in pairs along the slender stems and bearing
many starry white flowers nearly 1/2 inch across.

The seed is often found in clover and grass seed; it is the
same size as Common Chickweed seed but more nearly circular
in outline. The surface markings are quite different; instead
of bearing tubercles, the surface is thickly covered with short
curved ridges in more or less regular rows.

The Mouse-ear Chickweeds {Cerastium), two or three of
which occur in Canada as weeds, are somewhat similar to
Common Chickweed but easily distinguished from it. These
plants have much the same habit of growth as Common
Chickweed but are covered all over with downy hairs, which
in some species are glandular, giving a dirty appearance to the
plants by reason of the dust which adheres to them.

Field Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium arrense L.) in some
places is a troublesome and persistent weed. A native form occurs
abundantly throughout the western prairies but gives little
trouble. In some parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime
Provinces there is a kind with smoother leaves, and copious
rootstocks which enable the plant to become a persistent enemy.
Pastures or meadows invaded by it must be broken up and cleaned
by a short rotation of crops. The flowers of Field Chick-
weed are large and conspicuous, more than 1/2 inch across, and
borne on erect flowering stems, 3 to 6 inches high. In the West
the plant is sometimes grown for its beauty.

The seed is larger than that of the other chickweeds here
described, almost round and covered with coarse tubercles.

Common Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum L.) is a
perennial plant which occurs in cultivated land, pastures and

64 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

lawns throughout Canada. The pods are much elongated and
curved upwards.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 18) resembles that of Common
Chickweed but the tubercles are fewer, less regularly arranged,
and more of the nature of short ridges than of low prominences,
as in the former species. It is rather more angular and not
much more than half the size.

PURPLE COCKLE {Agrostemma Githago L.).

Other English name: Corn cockle (used in England, where
cereals are generally spoken of as ''corn").

Other Latin name: Lychnis Githago Scop.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual.
Erect, 1 to 3 feet high; branches few; whole plant covered with
soft, silky hairs; not viscous. Leaves 2 to 5 inches long, narrow
and pointed. Flowers purple, borne at the tips of the stems and
branches, 1^ inches across; the corolla divisions notched at the
apex, paler toward the centre; calyx ovoid, much swollen in
fruit, with the ribs prominent and the teeth long and conspicu-
ous. Fruit capsule ovoid, with 5 teeth at the apex.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 19) is pitchy black, from 1/12 to
1/8 of an inch in diameter, somewhat flattened, rounded trian-
gular; the thin edge notched by the scar of attachment; rough,
covered with rows of short teeth.

Time of flowering: July; seed ripe in August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : In grain throughout Canada.

Injury: A weed common to wheat fields and other cereal
crops. It is difficult to separate the seeds from wheat without
a heavy loss pf the grain. When ground with wheat, the seeds
give the flour a dark colour and a bad flavour. Bread made
from wheat infested with this and other cockle seeds is unwhole-

Plate 19

PURPLE COCKLE- OR CORN COCKLE-

(A§^os^emnoa GiThago/.)

THE PINK FAMILY

65

some owing to a poisonous principle in the plant and seeds.
When eaten in quantity, the seeds are poisonous to young
chickens.

Remedy: Sow clean seed wheat. It is quickly suppressed
and ultimately eradicated on lands brought under a short rota-
tion of crops. In eastern Canada, when this weed is abundant,
wheat should be omitted from the rotation for four years.

In the Prairie Provinces, harrowing the grain crop just
before it emerges from the ground and again when it is three
inches high keeps down this weed. Where the land is infested
with Purple Cockle, a thorough summer-fallow is the best method
of getting rid of it. Preparation for a summer-fallow should
start in the fall, by cultivating the land immediately after
harvest. This can be accomplished by having the disc follow
immediately behind the binder and thus cultivate the open strip
between the standing grain and the sheaves. Early in the
spring the land should again be disced or harrowed, to start the
weeds as early as possible. The plowing should be deep and
should be begun as soon as seeding is completed and finished
not later than the end of June. Harrow immediately after
plowing and repeat from time to time during the summer.
Hand-pull any Purple Cockle, that may be found in the crop
after the summer-fallowing. Hand-pulling is also practicable
when this weed first makes its appearance.

Besides the plough and hoe, the sweeping scythe
Will much avail to wage the weeding war.
If o'er your leas the yellow ragwort spread
A gaudy forest ; or the seedy dock
Uprear its stalk prolific; or the tribe
Of thistles fenced with prickly arms, — spare not
The emblem dear, but ruthless lay it low,
With all its brother cumberers of the ground:
For, if allowed to stand, the down-winged seed
Flies far, a pastime to your plaj-fjil elves,
To you a cause of meikle loss and bale.
Let none of all the intrusive race even form
,Their seed; for know — the fructifjdng stage
Of v^etation most exhausts the soil;
And, though cut down before they shed their fruit,
Mixed with the compost mound, they but create
A magazine of poisons for your fields.

-James Grahame, British Georgics, 1812.

66 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

WHITE COCKLE (Lychnis alba Mill).

Other English names: Evening Lychnis, White Campion.

Other Latin names: Lychnis vespertina Sibth.; Silene pratensis
Godr. & Gren.

Introduced from Europe; sparingly distributed in Ontario.
Biennial or short-lived perennial. Rootstock thick, sending up
a few short barren shoots and long branching flowering stems,
1 to 2^ feet high. Whole plant rather viscous hairy but not so
much so as Night-flowering Catchfly. It resembles the latter
somewhat, but is wider branching, has many stems, the leaves
are larger, the flowers more numerous, pure white, and with
a more conspicuous crown of short white scales around the centre;
the male and female flowers are on separate plants. The fruit
capsule has 10 teeth at the top instead of 6, as in Night-flowering
Catchfly, and is much larger and more swollen.

The seed (Plate 72, fig. 20) is pale gray, about as large as that
of Bladder Campion and Night-flowering Catchfly. It is rough-
ened by regular concentric rows of tubercles, which are farther
apart than those characteristic of allied species. The point of
attachment of the seed is usually depressed.

Time of flowering: June; seeds ripe in July.

Propagation: By seeds only.

Occurrence: Grain crops and meadows. White Cockle
is not a common weed in Canada but has been introduced oc-
casionally with seeds imported from Europe. In the vicinity
of Guelph it is abundant and troublesome.

Injury: A persistent weed that is exceedingly difficult to
eradicate, once it is established; a nuisance in all field crops.
The seeds are common in grass and clover seed from land where
the weed is plentiful.

Plate 20

WHITE" COCKLE
(Lychnis alba Mtu )

r

THE PINK FAMILY 67

Remedy: A bare summer-fallow, with thorough cultivation,
will suppress it. Prof. G. E. Day, of the Ontario Agricultural
College, Guelph, states that the roots are fleshy and hard to kill
unless dragged right up to the surface of the soil. If there is a
little earth covering any part of them, they will continue to
grow and try to produce seed. When spudded below the surface,
they will grow again but do not produce seed that season. A
short rotation of crops will keep it in check. Discing bare stubble
will help prevent it from seeding late in the season. Thick
seeding with clovers will restrict it by smothering. Pastures
following a single cut of early clover should be trimmed with a
mower about the middle of August to prevent the maturing of
seeds.

ALLIED SPECIES : Several species that are found
growing as weeds have escaped from gardens.

Dusty Miller {Lychnis coronaria (L.) Desr.) is a showy plant
with crimson flowers and white foliage.

Ragged Robin {Lychnis Flos-cuculi L.) is occasionally met
about old gardens in the Maritime Provinces. It has a slender
stem and rose or pink flowers, the corolla divisions 4-cleft.

Scarlet Lightning {Lychnis chalcedonica L.) is also some-
times found naturalized in localities where it has escaped from
cultivation.

Red Campion {Lychnis dioica L.) is a coarse, hairy, some-
what viscous plant, quite common in some localities in the
eastern provinces where it has become naturalized, apparently
from cultivated forms.

Drummond's Pink {Lychnis Drummondii Hook. Wats.) is
characterized by narrow leaves, small pink flowers, and a stem
almost leafless above ; quite common in Manitoba.

All weeds, as such, are pernicious, but some much more than others ; some do more
injury, and are more easily destroyed; some do less injury and are harder to kill; others
there are which have both these bad qualities.

— Jethro Tull, The Horse Hoeing Hiubandry, 1731.

68 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

NIGHT-FLOWERING CATCHFLY {Silene noctiflora L.)

Other English name: Sticky Cockle.

Other Latin name: Melandrium noctiflorum Fries,

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual. Erect,
1 to 3 feet high, somewhat branching; whole plant covered with
soft, spreading, glandular hairs. Lower leaves ovate, narrowed
at the base; stem-leaves lance-shaped. Flowers few, erect, in a
branching cyme, nearly an inch across, pinkish inside, yellowish
white outside, opening at night, corolla divisions deeply divided;
fruit capsule elongate ovoid, with 6 teeth at the top; calyx at first
cylindrical, afterwards broadly ovoid, with 5 long teeth at the
apex, and marked with 10 prominent green nerves.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 21) is about the same size as that of
Bladder Campion, grayish-brown, with a tiny black tip to each
tubercle. These tubercles are not in regular concentric rows, but
are evenly spread and cover the whole seed without regular
arrangement.

Time of flowering: June to autumn; seed ripening in July
and till frost.

Propagation: By seeds only.

Occurrence: Throughout the Dominion. Abundant in the
East, particularly in thin clover fields; rather rare in the West,
where it is of comparatively recent introduction.

Injury: A rank grower and heavy seeder; particularly trouble-
some in clover fields. On account of its pungent flavour and
woody texture, it is objectionable to live stock, whether in pas-
tures or cured fodder, and when at all prevalent in hay a con-
siderable waste results. The seed is a common impurity in
clover and grass seeds; alsike seed frequently contains large quan-
tities of it.

Remedy: Farmers who sow clover and grass seed free from
the seeds of Catchfly will not long have trouble with it on lands
worked under a short rotation of crops. The appearance of this
cockle in alsike fields is largely due to its being sown with the
clover seeds. For alsike seed crop, only clean land and the
purest obtainable seed should be used. Hand-j)ull before cut-

Rate 21

NIGHT- FLOWERING CATCHFLYor STICKY COCKLE
(Silene nocl-iflora /-.)

THE PINK FAMILY 69

ting clover seed crops; the increased value of the seed will pay
for the labour. Fields of alsike so badly infested as to render
hand-pulling impracticable should be cut for hay and the land
put under a system of cultivation calculated to clean it of the
weed seeds. A rotation of crops exclusive of alsike seed should
be adopted for six or eight years. Grass or clover seeds con-
taining Catchfly should be thoroughly cleaned in mills equipped
with screens specially designed to remove this impurity, and
should not be used on land that may later be required for the
production of alsike seed.

ALLIED SPECIES: The genus Silene embraces a tribe of
herbaceous plants represented by more than three hundred
species, relatively few of them are cultivated for decorative
purposes, the greater number being useless wayside weeds.

Conical Catchfly (Silene conica L.) is occasionally met in
southern Ontario in fields and waste places. It is a small plant,
with small pink or purple flowers and a cone-shaped fruit
capsule. The seed is about 2/3 the size of that of Night-flowering
Catchfly.

Sleepy Catchfly (Silene antirrhina L.), probably introduced
with imported clover seed, is quite widely distributed. It has a
slender stem which frequently shows purple colouring, about 2
feet in height, with narrow leaves. The flowers are quite small
and pinkish-white. The seed is of the same form as that of
Night-flowering Catchfly, about half the size and darker in colour;
it is difficult to separate from timothy seed, and is occasionally
present in commercial samples of various kinds of grass and
clover seeds.

Garden Catchfly (Silene Armeria L.) is frequently found
growing in fields near old gardens from which it has escaped.
It is an annual, with pink and white flowers, and seldom gives
serious trouble.

Small-flowered Catchfly (Silene gallica L.) is quite common
in the eastern provinces and on the Pacific coast. It is about 15
inches high, branched; flowers small and white. The seed is
similar to that of Sleepy Catchfly in size and colour and is
noticeably depressed on each side adjacent to the scar.

70 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

BLADDER CAMPION (Silene latifolia (Mill.) Britten & Rendle).

Other English names: Cow-bell, White Bottle, Rattle Weed.

Other Latin names: Cucuhalus Behen L.; Silene Cucubalus
Wibel.; Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke; Silene inflata Smith;
Behen vulgaris Moench.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, with deep running
rootstocks, which send up many barren shoots and branched
flowering stems, erect or nearly so. The whole plant is pale
green and in the common form perfectly smooth. Stems 1 foot
to 18 inches high, forming large tufts. Leaves ovate-lance-
shaped, in pairs, meeting round the stems. Flowers white,
nearly an inch across, drooping, the corolla divisions deeply
divided. Calyx much inflated, pale green veined with light
purple, 5-toothed at the contracted apex. Capsule globular-
ovoid, included in the calyx, opening by 5 short backward curved
teeth.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 22) is round-kidney-shaped, about
1/20 of an inch in diameter, covered with concentric rows of
small, cone-shaped tubercles. The seeds of this species and of
Night-flowering Catchfly and White Cockle are so similar that
they can be separated only by an expert. On plates 72 and 73,
the average characteristics of the seeds of each species are re-
presented. Note specially the arrangement of the tubercles.

Time of flowering: May to July; seeds ripe in July,

Propagation: By seeds and rootstocks.

Occurrence: By roadsides, on railway banks, in pastures,
hay and grass fields, throughout the eastern provinces.

Injury: This weed has become widely distributed during
recent years and has proven to be the most troublesome of the
cockles. Wherever established, it crowds out cultivated plants
and is difficult to suppress by cultivation. It seeds freely and the
seeds are hard to separate from red clover seed.

It

Plate 22

BLADDE-R CAMPION

(Sllene laMPolia iMUDBntteH^KpnM')

THE PINK FABflLY 71

Remedy : A clover crop in which this cockle is prevalent should
be cut early for hay, then deeply plowed and thoroughly fallowed
during the balance of the season, preparatory to a hoed crop.
Clover seed should not be sown on land polluted with this weed.
Seeding to clovers and grasses gives it an opportunity to estab-
lish itself. A rotation of crops calculated to suppress it should
allow for deep and thorough cultivation each spring before
seeding and again as soon as the crop is removed, as could be
given by sowing peas, vetches or other crops to cut green for
fodder, followed by a hoed crop, and the third year cereal grains.
On account of the occurrence of the seed in commercial grass
and clover, this weed is almost certain to be introduced on farms
from time to time, and it will require close scrutiny of clover
crops to detect occasional plants. When found, these can be
destroyed by applying a handful of salt to the root after cut-
ting in hot dry weather.

For truly from all sorts of Herbes and Flowers we may draw matter at all times
not only to magnifie the Creator that hath given them such diversities of formes, sents
and colours, that the most cunning Worke-man can imitate, and such virtues and prop-
erties, that although wee know many, yet many more Ij-e hidden and unknowne, but
many good instructions also to ourselves.

— Parkinson, 1629.

To thy com fields thou dost go,
Which, though well soiled, yet thou dost know
**^ That the best compost for the lands
Is the wise master's feet and hands.

— Herrick. 1648.

Some Herbs are but Annual, and die. Root and all, once a year; as Barrage, Lettuce,
Cucumbers, Musk-Mdons, Basil, Tobacco, Mustard seed, and all kinds of Com; some
continue many years, as Hyssope, Germander, Lavender, Pennd, &.C. The cause of the
Dying is double; the first is, the tenderness and Weakness of the Seed, which maketh the
period in a small time; as it is in Barrage, Lettuce, Cucumber, Com, &c. And therefore
none of these are hot. The other cause is, for that some Herbs can worse endure cold,
as Basil, Tobacco, Mustard-seed; and these have all much heat.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

72 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

COW COCKLE (Saponaria Vaccaria L.).

Other English names: Cowherb, China Cockle.

Other Latin names: Vaccaria Vaccaria (L.) Britton; Vacca-
ria vulgaris Host.

Introduced from southern Europe. Annual. Stem simple,
branching above or much branched from the base, 1 to 2^ feet.
The whole plant is smooth, succulent and of a grayish-green ap-
pearance, like the leaves of a cabbage. Leaves ovate-lance-
shaped, clasping the stem. Flowers pale rose-pink, 1/2 inch across,
in loose corymb-like cymes. Calyx ovate, 5-ribbed and much
inflated, winged and angled in fruit. The smooth roundish
fruit capsules contain about 20 seeds each.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 23), is round, hard, dull black,
about 1/12 inch in diameter, and is often confounded with
the seeds of wild vetches. It can be distinguished from vetch
seeds of a similar size by its minutely roughened surface, or by
cutting it open after soaking, when the germ, which lies in a
circle around the seed just beneath the seed-coat, will be seen.
It in no way resembles the inside of a vetch or pea, which, when
the seed-coat is removed after soaking, can be easily separated
into similar halves.

Time of flowering: July; seeds ripe in August.

Propagation: By seeds only.

Occurrence: As a troublesome weed, only in the Prairie
Provinces.

Injury: A pestiferous weed in grain crops in the Prairie
Provinces. The succulent plants rob the crop of moisture.
Being a vigorous grower, the large branched top occupies much
space and crowds out the grain. The seeds are a common im-
purity in commercial wheat and are almost as objectionable to
the miller and baker as are those of Purple Cockle.

Plate 23

COW COCKLE OR COW-HERB
(Saoonana Vaccana /.)

THE PURSLANK FAMILY 73

Remedy: Sow clean seed. Prevention is the best and least
expensive method of fighting it. It is a large showy plant and
when not present in excessive numbers can be easily hand-pulled.
The seed will not retain its vitality long; when land is seeded to
timothy or western rye grass and left for a few years, the supply of
vital seeds in the soil will be greatly reduced, if not entirely
exhausted. Where land is badly infested with Cow Cockle, a
thorough summer-fallow, as outlined for Purple Cockle, is the
most effective method of exterminating it. Harrowing grain
crops just before the grain emerges from the ground, and again
when it is three inches high, will kill any seedling weeds.

ALLIED SPECIES: Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis L.)
is a showy plant about 2 feet in height. Flowers light pink, in
compact panicle-like cymes. A common perennial weed along
roadsides and waste places; varieties of this species are cultivated
in gardens. Sometimes called Soapwort because the roots can
be used for washing instead of soap.

THE PURSLANE FAMILY (Portulacaceae).

This small family of plants comprises about twenty species,
all low, fleshy herbs, with mostly alternate thick leaves. The
seeds are borne in great numbers in cone-shaped capsules. The
flowers are sensitive to sunlight and close at night or when com-
pletely shaded. Rose Moss (Portulaca grandifiora Hook), of which
there are several improved varieties, is cultivated for decorative
purposes. Purslane is a typical and well-known representative
of this family and the only one that gives serious trouble.

Thry fallow betime, for destroying of weed,

least thistle and docke, fal a blooming and seed:

Such season may chance, it shall stand thee upon;
to till it again yer summer be gon.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Husbandrie, 1557

74 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

PURSLANE {Portulaca oleracea L.)

Other English names: Pusley, Wild Portulaca.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. A fleshy, prostrate,
perfectly smooth plant, freely branching from a single central
root, with fleshy reddish stems and dark green, alternate, obovate
or wedge-shaped leaves mainly clustered at the ends of the
branches. Flowers stalkless, solitary, about 1/4 inch across,
yellow, opening only on sunny mornings. Fruit capsule mem-
branous, many-seeded, the top coming ofl" as the lid of a box.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 24), black, roughened but shining,
about 1/40 of an inch in diameter, narrowly kidney-shaped,
much as in the Pink family, and, like the seeds of most of the
members of that family, with a curved germ running around the
outside of the seed.

Time of flowering: July till frost; seeds ripening during the
greater part of that time.

Propagation: By seeds. The fleshy leaves and stems give
it such vitality that flowering plants hoed out and left on the
ground will continue ripening seeds for weeks.

Occurrence: In rich land, particularly in gardens. Most
abundant in the eastern provinces, constantly being introduced
into new localities with seeds. It is now found in gardens in
most parts of Canada.

Injury: The noxious nature of this persistent pest is due to
its ability to produce large numbers of seeds that retain their
vitality for several years. The seeds do not germinate until the
soil has become quite warm, and they are able to produce seedling
plants only when brought quite close to the surface. It is
especially troublesome late in the season in gardens and hoed
crops. When young and tender the plants are sometimes used
as a pot herb and are of value as green food for pigs.

Remedy: Bare summer-fallow with frecjuont cultivation.
Clean cultivation of hoed crops; the late general cultivation

THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY /O

should be unusually shallow to avoid bringing the seeds to the
surface. Frequent attention with the hoe is needed after general
cultivation has ceased. Seeds that have formed will develop
and mature on the fleshy stems of the plant after it has been cut;
it is therefore necessary to remove and destroy the plants that
have formed seeds. A revolving pea rake may be used to
gather the plants from stubble lands. The plants so gathered
may be used as green food for pigs, but care should be taken
that the seeds are not returned to the fields in the manure.
Constant raking, to raise the prostrate stems, followed by close
cutting, is recommended for lawns in which this pest gives
trouble. A three-year rotation, including summer-fallow directly
after the removal of a crop of early clover, followed by hoed crop
and again by cereal grain for the third year, will keep it in check.
If given access to corn and potato fields, sheep will feed on late
plants, and if their pasture is short, will prevent many of them
from seeding.

THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY (Raminculaceae).

A hardy family of plants, generally distributed in moist
places in temperate and cold climates. Mostly perennials.
The Rammculaceae are herbaceous or woody plants, generally
containing a colourless, acrid juice. The leaves are often com-
pound or dissected, with the leaf-stalks swollen at the base. The
fruits are variable; they may be berries, pods or dry seed-like fruits.
This family contains a few weeds of secondary importance as well
as the more virulent Larkspurs {Delphinium) and Monkshoods
(Aconitum) of the western plains. Crocus Anemone (Ane-
mone patens L., var. Wolfgangania (Bess.) Koch.) has caused
losses in flocks of sheep. Owing to its early flowering -and its
succulence, the hairy stems are eaten and the copious hairs,
remaining undigested, form balls in the stomachs of the sheep.
White or Pennsylvanian Anemone (Anemone canadensis L.)
sometimes increases so much in low^ pastures that it crowds out
the grasses and necessitates breaking up the sod. The seed
(Plate 73. fig. 26) is .sometimes found with the seeds of grasses.

76 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

TALL BUTTERCUP (Ranunculus acris L.)

Other English names: Tall Crowfoot, Meadow Buttercup.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, with fibrous roots.
Stem erect, generally hairy. The leaves in 3 divisions, each
division stalkless, 3-cleft or parted, with deeply lobed segments.
Flowers yellow. The dry seed-like fruits are in heads.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 25) is about 1/8 of an inch in diameter,
fiat, nearly round in outline but unsymmetrical with a somewhat
wing-like margin; both the tip and the scar ends are pointed and
very prominent, the former generally hooked. The colour
varies from greenish-brown to nearly black; dull from the rough-
ened surface.

Time of flowering: June to August; seed ripe by July.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Throughout Canada, especially in moist lands.

Injury: A noxious weed with a poisonous, acrid, blistering
juice; common in pastures and meadows. Farm stock will not
feed within range of the leaves. When cured in hay it appears
to be less objectionable. It does not give trouble in well-drained
soils cultivated under a systematic short rotation of crops,
but it is difficult to suppress on lands left to permanent pasture
or hay. The seeds are commonly found in grass and clover seed.

Remedy: When possible bring land under cultivation
and good drainage. Summer or autumn fallowing, when the
land is dry, is efficacious. Postpone seeding to grass until the
weed is completely suppressed. Pasture lands that cannot be
cultivated should be gone over two or three times each year
and the plant closely cut, first when in early bloom and again
about July or August. If continued for two or three years,
this practice will usually suppress it.

ALLIED SPECIES: Several allied species are prevalent
in many districts as weeds of secondary importance.

Plate 25

TALL BOTTERCOP OR CROWFOOT

(Ranunculus acris /. >

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 77

Cursed Buttercup or Ditch Crowfoot (Ranunculus sceleratus L.)
is abundant along ditches, creeks and ponds; occasionally found
in wet pastures. It may be distinguished from Small-flowered
Buttercup by its thick hollow stems.

Small-flowered Buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus L.) is common
in old pastures and open woods, less frequent in meadows and
cultivated fields. Its lower leaves are smooth, and round or
kidney-shaped.

THE FUMITORY FAMILY (Fumariaceae).

This family is represented by Golden Fiunitory (Corydalis
aurea Willd.), an occasional weed in the wheat fields of Manitoba.
The plant sometimes appears in low lands and restricted areas
in such numbers as to crowd out grain crops sown on stubble.
It is a succulent biennial, smooth, hairless and branching, with
finely dissected leaves and golden-yellow flowers. Spring or fall
plowing or discing stubble lands before sowing will eradicate it.

The seeds (Plate 73, fig. 27) are about 1/12 of an inch in
diameter, shining black, rounded-kidney-shaped, borne in many-
seeded, somewhat knotty, curved pods which split down one
side to shed the seeds. Sometimes found in commercial seeds.

THE MUSTARD FAMILY (Cmdferae).

Few families of plants are of such great economic importance
as the Mustard family, not only from the large number of trouble-
some weeds it contains, but also from the fact that not a single
unwholesome plant is found in it. Many species form well-known
and excellent articles of food, as the cabbage, turnip, radish, water-
cress, etc. Some of our worst weeds, however, most of which
have been introduced into Canada, belong to this family. Their
characteristics are easily recognized. Many of the Cruciferae
have in their roots, stems or seeds, odours or flavours which help

78 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

to identify them. The leaves and stems of many bear small,
star-shaped hairs. The flowers are regular, composed of four
free calyx divisions and four free corolla divisions, arranged
in two opposite pairs and forming a cross-shaped flower, from
which the whole family takes its name, Crucijerae. The flowers
are borne on footstalks and clustered at the tips of branches
which gradually elongate, forming long, upright racemes, often
with fully formed and even ripe pods below, before the topmost
flowers have opened. When ripe the seed pods, which are of
various shapes, usually consist of two outside walls separated by
a thin white partition, to the sides of which the seeds are attached.

The seeds as a rule are small and numerous. Their surface
is usually rather dull and more or less granular. Many, when
placed in water, develop a coat of mucilage, by which, when dry,
they remain attached to passing objects or adjacent surfaces.
This is an important factor in their distribution. The quantity
of mucilage developed varies ; on some seeds it remains after
drying as a covering of hair-like points or threads. The seed-
coat is generally thin and close-fitting, the position of the germ
showing plainly through it.

WOOD WHITLOW GRASS {Draha nemorosa L.).

Other English name : Yellow Whitlow Grass.

Native. Annual and winter annual. Slightly downy. Stem
low, branching below, leafy to the elongated raceme. Leaves
stalkless, oblong-ovate or lance-shaped, somewhat toothed.
Flowers whitish yellow. Pods elliptical-oblong, half the length
of the footstalks, which are almost horizontal at maturity.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 28) is small, 1/16 of an inch long,
egg-shaped, flattened, reddish brown, with a rough surface.

Time of flowering : Karly June; seeds ripe by end of June.

Propagation: By seeds.

Plate 26

WOOD WHITLOW GRASS

(Drabd nemorosa/. )

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 7^

Occurrence: Abundant in parts of western Ontario and
northward. Found occasionally in the Prairie Provinces. The
Whitlow^ Grasses include a large number of species widely dis-
tributed throughout Canada. Macoun's catalogue includes
twenty-five species and varieties. They are mostly weeds of
secondary importance. Some varieties are cultivated for decor-
ative purposes.

Injury: Most frequent in waste places, neglected fields, old
meadows, lawns, and along roadsides. It is not a serious pest,
but the genus is of importance because of the large number of
species which it contains and their wide distribution.

Remedy: The whitlow grasses do not long continue in
evidence on farms worked under a short rotation of crops.
Summer-fallows should be plowed before the seed is formed.
Continued raking and close cutting will suppress them on lawns.
Grass lands over-run with them may be devoted to sheep pasture.

ALLIED SPECIES: Vernal Whitlow Grass (Draha verna
L.) and Carolina Whitlow Grass {Draha caroliniana Walt.) and
varieties are prevalent in many localities in the eastern provinces.

Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden.
And choke the herbs for want of husbandrj*.

— Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI, Act III, so. i, 1592.

"That there are many seeds which lie long in the ground without any \-isible signs
"of germination is not to be disputed." And I see no impossibility against their having
lain so from the deluge, if not from the creation of the world (I mean such of them as lie
deep in the earth, and have never been exposed to the sun, air, Ac).

— Jethro TuU, The Horse Hoeing Hushandrie, 1731.

80 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

STINKWEED (Thlaspi arvense L.)

Other English names : Penny Cress, French Weed, Mithridate
Mustard.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual.
Stem erect, simple or branching. Whole plant bright green and
quite smooth. Root leaves borne on footstalks ; stem leaves
spear-shaped, coarsely toothed, clasping the stem with the arrow-
shaped base. Flowers clear white, 1/8 of an inch across; at first
in a small, flat cluster at the top of the leafy stem. Racemes
elongated in fruit. Pods flat, 3/4 of an inch across, containing
from 8 to 16 seeds, on slender, upward-curved footstalks, pale
green and winged, notched at the top. Just before the seeds
ripen the pods turn a characteristic greenish-orange shade,
easily noticed when this weed is growing among crops.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 29) is about 1/12 of an inch across,
a little longer than broad, deep purplish-brown, unsymmetrically
oval in outline, flattened, with rounded edges. The flattened
surface has 5 or 6 loop-like lines, which start at the basal scar
or notch and run concentrically around a central groove. No
mucilage develops on these seeds when soaked in water.

Time of flowering : Plants in bloom when winter sets in
freeze up, but as soon as they thaw out in spring they continue
to grow and mature their seeds without the slightest injury,
and continue ripening until frost. The seeds of these early plants
are ripe early in July. Plants which grow from seed in the
spring are not ripe until some weeks later. After the middle
of June they are too far advanced to be plowed down.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : Stinkweed is now found in every province in
Canada, but nowhere else is it such a terrible pest as in the
Prairie Provinces, where it was introduced with the first settlers.

r-4i^

^^

I

Plate 27

STINKW&ErD or FIELD PErNNYCRESS

(Thiaspi arvense l.)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 81

Injury: A most persistent and aggressive enemy of the
western farmer. This pest is found in the greatest abundance
in the rich lands of the Red River Valley, where it flourishes
with remarkable vigour and where it is difficult to control it on
account of the distribution of its seeds by spring floods. When
once established the soil soon becomes polluted with it, and on
prairie lands it crowds out cereal grains almost to the limit
of profitable production.

Remedy: Hand-pulling and burning is probably the best
way to stamp out Stinkweed in new localities and in small
quantities, but when it is thoroughly established more drastic
measures must be adopted. They are all based on some method
by which the seeds are covered up to make them germinate;
then the young plants are destroyed with the harrow, cultivator
or plow before seeds ripen. The land should be cultivated as
soon as a fresh growth of the weed develops. Great care must
be taken not to plow down any full-sized pods, even though
they may be green, as it has been proven that in the dry climate
of the West such seeds can ripen beneath the soil. On land
to be summer-fallowed, if there is a heavy growth of this weed
with fully formed seed pods, the plants should be mowed down,
removed from the field and piled on a piece of hard land, where,
after drying, they can be burnt. T. N. Willing says truly:
"Close attention should be given to any portion of a farm where
Stinkweed has been noticed and careful persistent work will
be required to eradicate it; but it will pay well to drop all other
work and fight this weed when it is first noticed."

The most important measure to clear the land of Stink-
weed is harrowing the growing crop to kill the seedlings. The
harrowing should commence before the crop emerges from the
ground, be repeated when the grain is about three inches high,
and repeated again in bad cases when the grain is five or six
inches high. Experiments in the Red River Valley have shown
this method to be most effective; and clean fields, giving crops
of forty bushels per acre, may there be seen, close to others
bearing not more than from ten to twelve bushels per acre,

82 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

the difference being entirely due to the presence of Stinkweed
in the one case and to its having been harrowed out in the other.

Running the disc or harrow over stubble immediately after
the binder, so as to start into growth the seeds near the surface,
gives good results. The following spring, harrow or cultivate
these plants down as soon as a fresh growth starts, then plow and
harrow at once. This land may be sown late to a green feed
crop, or it may be kept under a clean fallow for the whole season
if the land can be spared. The following spring any plants
that appear should be cultivated before sowing the crop. An
excellent plan, which will enable the farmer to take a rest in
this fight, is to seed down with timothy or western rye grass.
Such fields require mowing occasionally during the season to
prevent seeds ripening. The grass will choke out even the
Stinkweed after the first year. When the sod is plowed up again
some seeds may still be vital, but these can be dealt with as
before.

PEPPERGRASS (Lepidium apetahmi Willd.)

Other Latin name : Lepidium intermedium Gray.

Native. Annual and winter annual. Stems erect, pro-
fusely branching above, 6 inches to 2 feet high, somewhat hoary
with short appressed hairs. Autumn plants produce a rosette
of dark-green, deeply indented leaves, much like some specimens
of Shepherd's Purse but more succulent. Stem-leaves with
a few coarse teeth, narrowed at the base. The many nearly
erect and spreading branches give this plant, when in seed,
the appearance of a miniature tree, the numerous, small, nearly
round, flat pods taking the place of leaves; the real leaves fall
away when the seeds begin to ripen. The flowers are minute;
the seed-pods about 1/10 of an inch wide, heart-shaped,
slightly longer than wide, notched at the top and at maturity
separate into halves.

Plate 28

WILD PEPPE-RGRASS

(Lepidium apet-alum wntd)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 83

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 30) is about 1/16 of an inch in
length, bright reddish-yellow, egg-shaped in outline, much
flattened, blunt on the straight side and very thin or slightly
winged on the rounded side ; both sides show a rather deep
groove in the middle. When moistened the seeds develop a large
amount of mucilage. Although there are only two seeds in a
pod, each plant produces thousands of seeds.

Time of flowering: June, July; seed ripe on early plants
by the end of June. •

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Widely distributed throughout the Dominion.
Most abundant on light sandy soils in eastern Canada.

Injury: In the West it crowds out grain crops grown on
stubble, particularly on light land and in a wet spring. This is
from the autumn plants, which get a start before the grain and
choke it out with their thick, vigorous growth. It gives trouble
in clover fields and new meadows where the crop is winter killed.
The seed is a frequent impurity in grass and clover seeds.

Remedy: Only the autumn plants which live through the
winter give trouble in grain. Thorough surface cultivation in
the spring, with the plow, disc or broad-shared cultivator,
is efficacious. Immature seeds may ripen in the pods when
plowed down. Badly infested fields in the eastern provinces
should be disced or plowed directly after harvest, cultivated
from time to time until winter, and again until late in June,
when they may be planted, or sown with a late fodder crop.

ALLIED SPECIES: Field Peppergrass or Cow Cress {Lepi-
dium campestre (L.) R. Br.). A biennial yet rare in Canada,
occurring in the clover-growing districts of Ontario. The
plant grows with two or three stems from the same root. These
are branched above, forming corymbs, with a few nearly erect
branches. The lower leaves are oblong and toothless; those of
the stem are spear-shaped with blunt ends, afew have large, shallow

84 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA '

teeth and an arrow-shaped base. The thick pods are broad-
ly ovate, boat-shaped, being rounded below and hollowed out
above. Each pod contains two seeds.

The seed is 1/12 of an inch long, egg-shaped, but pointed
at the scar end. The surface is finely roughened and dull, with
a mealy appearance. Two grooves, often filled with mucilage,
extend from the sharp basal end almost to the other end of the
seed.

SHEPHERD'S PURSE (Capsella Bnrsa-pastoris L.).

Other Latin names: Bursa pastoris Weber; Thlaspi Bursa-
pastoris L.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual.
Few plants are so variable in size and appearance. It may be
bright green and nearly smooth, or gray from very short ap-
pressed hairs. A Seed-bearing plant may be a dwarf, little more
than an inch or two high, or a vigorous, branching plant, three
feet high, with many pods. There may be at the base a
vigorous rosette of leaves, or none at all. The leaves may
be deeply cut, pinnatifid, or without any teeth or division.
The stem-leaves are for the most part arrow-shaped, with two
sharp, ear-like projections, one on each side of the stem. The
flowers are small and white. The only part of the plant which
seems to be constant is the seed-pod, which is flat, triangular
in shape, 1/4 of an inch long, wedge-shaped at the base, notched
at the top, with the outer angles rounded. Each pod contains
about 20 seeds.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 31) is small, 1/24 of an inch long,
oblong, reddish brown, the surface dull and punctured. When
put in water it develops a large amount of mucilage and a cover-
ing of rather long but very fine, transparent hairs.

Plate 29

SHEPHERD S PURSE

(Capsella Borsa-pashoris fUA/etUc)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 85

Time of flowering: Throughout the season. At all times
of the year when it is not actually freezing, this plant is growing
and ripening its seeds.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Throughout Canada, in all soils. The seed
is found in all small commercial seeds.

Injury: It has an enormous power of propagation; a single
plant will ripen 50,000 seeds. It will thrive in all kinds of soil,
is of a succulent nature and absorbs much moisture. In meadows
which have been thinned by winter, the vigorous rosettes of
autumn-started plants will crowd out grass and clover. It is
frequently attacked by fungus diseases and harbours those
common to cabbage, turnips and other members of the Mustard
family.

Remedy: The same general treatment as given for Pepper-
grass. Waste places should be cleared as far as practicable
and seeded to grass. It does not give serious trouble on lands
worked under a short rotation, with clean cultivation of hoed
crops. Sow clean grass and clover seeds.

Grasse, thistle, and mustard seed, hemlock and bur,

tine, mallow and nettle, that keep such a stur:
With peacocke and turkie, that nibbles off top,

are very ill neighbors, to seely jxjor hop.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Htisbandrie, 1557.

For Goose Tansey, or Hoare Tansey like Weed, I must needs make Proclamation
That he that can tell the destruction of it, shall show a very acceptable service; and for
my selfe I should be very thankfull for the Communication thereof, for I can say no more
than this. Never Plough your Land too long, nor out of heart or strength by no meanes,
for this occasioneth it to grow more thick and fruitfully; and also load your land hard
with cattle in the spring and when it doth grow high and strong. Mow it downe about
the end of Mid summer Moon, or in the dryest and hottest time of Summer, but the ear-
lier the better, and other meanes I can proscribe none other, but in all your Plowings
soyle it well with good Dung, and lay it down rich, and full of spirit, I hope some man
of exp)erience herein wiU help me.

Walter Blith, The English Improver Improved, or The System of Husbandry Surveyed, 1652.

86 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

FALSE FLAX (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz).

Other English names: Gold of Pleasure, Balloon Mustard.

Other Latin names: Myagrum sativum L.; Camelina Macro-
carpa Reich.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual, 2 to
3 feet high, erect, branched above. Root-leaves lance-shaped
and narrowed into a footstalk ; upper leaves arrow-shaped,
sharply pointed. The lower leaves and the lower part of the
stem downy with star-shaped hairs. The upper part of the
stem smooth and covered with a fine bloom. Racemes much
elongated in fruit. Flowers numerous, small, 1 / 8 of an inch across,
pale greenish yellow. Pods 3/8 of an inch long, balloon or pear-
shaped, margined and tipped with a slender beak, on slender foot-
stalks, curving upward, each containing about 10 seeds.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 32) is variable in size, about 1/12 of
an inch long, pale yellowish brown. The miniature root of the
germ very prominent, lying along the seed. Seed-coat finely
pitted. Scar of attachment a white point in a notch at the
base of the seed. When soaked in water the seeds develop a
thick coat of mucilage. The seeds have been used as food on
account of their mucilage and oil, both of which resemble those
of linseed. The plant has been cultivated for these products
in Germany and France.

Time of flowering : June to August; seed ripe July to Septem-
ber.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Throughout Canada in waste places and along
railways. A noxious weed in the West and in western Ontario.

Injury: In western Canada it is in evidence in grain sown
on stubble land that has not had clean cultivation before spring
seeding. It is a noxious pest in fall wheat and is prevalent in

Plate 30

FALSE FLAX

(Camelina safiva /'/M>'//*/r)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 87

clover fields and new meadows in fall wheat districts. Its
disagreeable odour and flavour render it objectionable to all
farm stock but sheep.

Remedy: Hand-pull small areas when practicable. Avoid
winter crops on land polluted with seeds of this weed. Prairie soils
infested with this winter annual should receive a thorough
discing or shallow plowing in the spring before seeding. When
a crop of winter wheat is infested with False Flax, harrowing
in the spring kills the young plants without injuring the wheat.
A thorough summer-fallow, with cultivation the previous fall
and continuous cultivation throughout the summer, is recom-
mended for fields badly infested with this weed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Small-seeded False Flax (Camelina
microcarpa Andrz.) resembles common False Flax, but is
more slender and has smaller pods. The first cutting of red
clover containing this weed should be taken early. The first
crop of alsike in the fall wheat districts usually contains some
False Flax and should not be taken for seed unless the weeds
are first hand-puUed and destroyed. This pest does not long
give serious trouble where a short rotation of crops is
practiced and where thorough cultivation and seeding to grasses
is done with spring grains instead of fall wheat. The seeds
(Plate 73, fig. 33) are only about 1/20 of an inch long, oblong
in outline, plump, dark reddish brown. They often occur in
large quantities in alsike clover and timothy seeds.

Round-seeded False Flax (Camelina dentata Pers.) was
introduced into Manitoba in 1906 with imported flax seed.
The seeds (Plate 73, fig. 34) vary much in form and size, bdng
generally larger than those of common False Flax, irregularly
oval or oblong in outline, thickly flattened and pale yellow in
colour.

In May get a weedhook, a crotch and a gloue,

and weed out such weeds , as the come doth not loue:

For weeding of winter come, now it is best,
but June b the better, for weeding the rest.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Husbandrie, 1557.

88 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

BALL MUSTARD {Neslia paniculata (L.) Desv).

Other English names: Yellow- weed, Neslia.
Other Latin name : Myagrum paniculatum L.

Introduced from Europe into the West about the same time
as Tumbling Mustard, Hare's-ear Mustard and Cow Cockle.
A tall annual or winter annual. Stems erect, very slender; strong
plants throwing out a few long branches. Whole plant yellowish-
green and covered with small, appressed, star-shaped hairs.
Lower leaves lance-shaped, narrowed at the base; stem-leaves
arrow-shaped clasping the stem at the base, blunt-pointed.
Flowers small, 1/8 of an inch across, orange-yellow; racemes
very long.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 35) is enclosed in small, round, one
seeded, shot-like pods, commonly called "seed," which are
borne on slender footstalks, about 1/2 of an inch in length, stand-
ing out from the stem in all directions. These pods, when
mature and dry, are about 1/12 of an inch in diameter, roundish,
greenish-brown, roughly net-veined, somewhat like a small
piece of dry earth. The contained seed is yellow, with the mini-
ature root of the germ prominent. The whole pods are generally
found in grain, as they do not open to discharge the seeds.

Time of flowering : June to August ; seeds ripe July to
September.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Very prevalent in northern Alberta; rapidly
becoming more abundant in the other Prairie Provinces. Com-
mon in eastern Canada along railway lines, waste places and
wherever western grain is carried.

Injury : A noxious weed in the grain crops of Manitoba, Sas-
katchewan and Alberta. The wrinkled pods or balls containing

Plate 31

BALL MUSTARD

(Neslia paniculaha tL>/>cn)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 89

the small seeds are common in threshed grain, frequently neces-
sitating dockage and recleaning at points of inspection and
storage.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. This weed will not long give
serious trouble where crop rotation is practiced. Where cereal
grains follow cereal grains, plowing or discing in the fall and
clean cultivation in the spring, with a disc or broad-shared
cultivator, is recommended. Harrow the crop before the
plants emerge from the ground, and again when they are three
inches high, to destroy seedling weeds. Badly infested areas
should be summer-fallowed; disc and harrow early in the spring
and plow early in June. Seeding to grass for three or four years
will greatly reduce this pest. The edges of prairie grain fields
should be trimmed with the mower before these weeds have
passed the flowering stage.

In some of the more northerly districts of the Prairie Prov-
inces, where summer -fallowing is not expedient, growing
grain for fodder gives an opportunity to clean the land of this
pest. As with summer-fallow, begin with discing or early
plowing immediately behind the binder in the fall. This should
be followed by cultivation with disc or harrow early in the
spring. The land should be plowed in June, thoroughly worked
up, and seeded with oats, barley or timothy. Be sure to cut
the crop before any of the mustard seeds mature.

Ball Mustard seeds are usually present in western oats
sold for seed in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces.
Where clean seed can not be obtained, the fanning mill will
eliminate these seeds by screening. The alternation of crops
commonly practiced in mixed farming will usually keep this
weed in check in eastern Canada. Sheep will feed on the young
and tender plants of this weed and of most others of the Mustard
family.

90 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

WILD RADISH (Raphanus Raphanistrum L.)

Other English names: Jointed Charlock, Jointed Radish,
Wild Turnip, often wrongly called Wild Mustard, Cadluck or
Kale in Nova Scotia.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual, 1
to 2 feet high, with a few long branches starting low down.
The root is slender, not swollen as in the garden radish. Leaves
pale yellowish-green, deeply lobed, and, like the stem, bearing
a few stiff bristles. The flowers are fewer and larger than in
Wild Mustard, noticeably paler yellow, conspicuously veined.
The constricted seed pods (Plate 73, fig. 36) are the most distinc-
tive characteristic; with these, no mistake can be made in
identifying the two plants. In Wild Radish the seed-pods
have no valves but are composed of two joints, the lower one
small, 1/10 of an inch, and seedless, which remains attached
to the footstalk; the upper cylindrical, 1^ inches long, with
several one-seeded Cells formed by transverse partitions. This
seed-bearing portion separates from the first joint, leaving it
attached to the footstalk; in threshing, it is often broken up
into single-seeded sections.

The seed itself (Plate 73, fig. 36) varies much in size and
shape, being about 1/8 of an inch long, oval, irregular, slightly
flattened, reddish brown, the surface very finely netted.

Time of flowering : June to September; seeds ripe by
August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : Abundant in the Maritime Provinces and
recently introduced with English seed oats into Ontario.

Injury: A coarse, vigorous weed, not less objectionable
than Wild Mustard though not so difficult to suppress. Grain
crops polluted with this weed are troublesome to harvest; the

Plate 32

WILD RADISH OR JOINTED CHARLOCK
(Rapbanus Rapbanisrrum a.)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY

91

bulky nature of the plants prevents the elevation of the grain
in self-binders and greatly increases the amount of binder twine
required. The broken seed pods, containing the seeds, are
common in oats and reduce the market value of the grain.

Remedy: Sow clean seed grain. Hand-pull if at all prac-
ticable. If the weed has become established, a summer-fallow,
with thorough cultivation at short intervals, will greatly reduce
it. Hoed crops with clean cultivation, followed by a fodder
crop, such as mixed grain to cut green, before Wild Radish
has passed the flowering stage,* with early clover for pasture
or hay the third year and a grass crop for hay the fourth year,
is a rotation that will prevent this weed from seeding and will
ultimately suppress it. If grain is desired after a hoed crop,
it would be well to defer spring seeding and give thorough
cultivation with the disc and broad-shared cultivator until the
soil is sufficiently warm to produce a vigorous growth; then
sow early-maturing, six-rowed barley, at the rate of three bushels
per acre, and harvest the crop on the green side. If weather
permits, apply the weeder or harrow when the barley commences
to show above the surface, and again when the crop is from three
to six inches high. The harrow will destroy most of the seedling
plants of this and other annuals. The clover and grass seed
should be sown in front of the harrow at the last application.
Examine imported seeds for the broken pods of this weed.
Sheep feed readily on the young plants of Wild Radish and if
their pasture is short will prevent it from seeding.

Small herbs have grace; great weeds do grow apace:
.... Sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste.

— Shakespeare, Richard III, Act II, sc. iv, 1594.

In the later ende of Maj' is tyme to wede thy corne. There be divers maner of
wedes, as thistles, kedlokes (charlock), dockes, code, damolde, gouldes, and dog fenell.
The thystle is an yll wede, and there be other wedes, as dee nettylles, dodder, and
suche other that doo moche hanne.

— John Fitzherberts, Bohe of Husbondry, 1523.

92 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

WILD MUSTARD (Brassica arvensis (L.) Ktze.)

Other English names: Charlock, Herrick, Cadluck, Field-
kale, Ontario Mustard.

Other Latin names : Brassica Sinapistrum Boiss., Sinapis
arvensis L.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. Stems erect, branching,
1 to 3 feet high, rough, with stiff, somewhat downward directed
hairs. The purple at the junction of the branches with the
stem is a striking characteristic. Lower leaves stalked, usually
deeply indented or lobed, with the terminal lobe large; upper
leaves mostly stalkless. Flowers bright yellow, fragrant, 2/3 inch
across. Seed pods 1 to 2 inches long, knotty or slightly con-
stricted between the seeds, ribbed and rising obliquely on short,
thick footstalks, tipped with a long empty or 1-seeded, 2-edged
beak, which breaks away whole from the ripe pod. Each pod
contains about 15 to 17 seeds.

The seeds (Plate 73, fig. 37) vary somewhat in size but are
generally about 1/16 of an inch in diameter, quite round, dark
brown or reddish black, almost smooth and without mucilage.

Time of flowering: June to September; seed ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: General throughout Canada in farm crops and
waste places.

Injury: A gross feeder and a troublesome weed. The
commonest and one of the most injurious weeds belonging to
the Mustard family.

Remedy: Sow clean seed and hand-pull to prevent it becoming
established on new or clean land. When ripe the pods split
and much of the seed is left on the land at harvest time; thus
the plant rapidly increases on land devoted to cereal grain,
particularly oats. Harrowing or discing the stubble lands

Plate 33

WILD MUSTARD or CHARLOCK
( Brassica ^^^^/ens\s (i^)/a^f)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 93

directly after harvest will induce the seed of this and other
annuals to germinate; the plants make good feed for sheep or
may be destroyed by cultivation or frost. A rotation of crops
such as recommended for Wild Radish will suppress this pest.
On lands where the production of spring cereal grains predomin-
ates, two or more applications of the weeder or harrow, pref-
erably a tilting harrow, once when the grain begins to show
above ground and once or twice when the crop is between three
and six inches high, will destroy the seedling mustard plants
and prevent them from choking out the grain. Some claim
that this practice of harrowing spring crops slightly delays
maturity, but this can be obviated by thicker seeding. Applica-
tions of clover and grass seed may be made directly in advance
of the harrow when last applied. When the soil is too wet to use
the harrow, as it frequently is during the early^ growing season,
in the eastern provinces, the growth of Wild Mustard may be
checked and most of the plants killed by spraying with a solution
of two pounds of bluestone in ten gallons of water, applied at the
rate of about fifty gallons per acre in a fine spray. The seeds
are longer-lived than most others of the Mustard family. Recent
research work showed that they do not retain their vitality
beyond fifteen years.

ALLIED SPECIES : Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea (L.)
Cosson) differs from Wild Mustard in being smooth, nearly hairless,
somewhat covered with a fine bloom. The upper leaves are
narrower, the lower ones pinnatifid with a large terminal lobe.
The pods are slightly shorter on spreading footstalks. This
weed has been detected in a few places in Manitoba and Ontario.

Black Mustard (Brassica nigra (L.) Koch). Although
found occasionally in all the provinces, the true Black Mustard
does not seem to be a troublesome weed in Canada. It may
be at once known by its long spreading branches, covered with
short square pods only half an inch long, which are erect and
closely appressed to the stem.

Bird or German Rape, Rutabaga (Brassica campestris L.)
including Turnip (Brassica Rapa L.) and Rape (Brassica Napus L.)

94 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

resembles Wild Mustard, but only the root-leaves are
hairy. The stem, the upper leaves which clasp the stem by an
ear-shaped base, and the long pods on spreading footstalks,
are smooth and waxy, like the leaves of cabbage. This form
is abundant in Manitoba and in some parts of Quebec and
Ontario. Bird Rape, unlike Wild Mustard, can not be killed
by spraying with bluestone solution, on account of its smooth
leaves to which the solution will not stick.

Rocket or Rocket Salad (Eruca sativa Lam.) has recently
been introduced into Ontario, probably with European alfalfa
seed. It is a hairy annual, somewhat resembling Wild Mustard.
The leaves are pinnatifid, with a large terminal lobe. The
flowers are yellowish-white, characteristically netted with dark
purple veins, aromatic. The pods are shorter than those of
Wild Mustard, upright, the beak broad and flat. The seed is
about the size of that of Bird Rape, flattened, olive-brown, the
miniature root of the germ generally lighter in colour. It is
pungent and bitter, with a flavour characteristic of radish. The
seed is occasionally present in European alfalfa seed. The plant
is seldom referred to as a noxious weed in Europe, where it is
sometimes cultivated as a pot herb. It should not be allowed
to mature its seeds in cultivated crops.

HARE'S-EAR MUSTARD (Conringia orientalis (L.) Dumort.).

Other English names : Rabbit-ear, Hare's-ear Cabbage,
Klinkweed.

Other Latin names: Erysimum orientale R.Br.; Brassica
orientalis L. ; Brassica perfoliata Lam.

Introduced from Europe, probably with flax seed, about
1892. Annual and winter annual. Stems erect, with a few
branches, 1 to 4 feet high. Whole plant perfectly smooth, and,
when young, covered with a fine bloom like that of cabbage.
Leaves fleshy, without teeth, the root-leaves obovate, gradually

Plate 34

HARES-EAR MUSTARD

(Conringia orient"alis v, i/j'/mr-rt)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 95

narrowed to the base; those on the stiff stems, which become
wire-like when ripe, oblong oval, shaped like a hare's or a rabbit's
ear, clasping the stem by two rounded, ear-like lobes. Flowers
creamy- white, 1/4 inch across. Pods square, 3 to 4 inches long.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 38) is dark brown, rounded-oblong,
pointed at the scar end, 1/12 of an inch long, granular roughened;
when soaked in water, covered with short, erect, white, mucilagin-
ous hairs. In shape it resembles the seed of common False
Flax.

Time of flowering: End of June; seeds ripe August-
September.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence : Quite general throughout the West, especially
in southern Alberta, in grain fields, on stubble and by roadsides;
spreading rapidly.

Injury: A coarse growing weed which occupies much space.
The succulent plant absorbs moisture from the soil and little
grain can grow where there is a patch of it. The wiry stems
are hard to bind and are bad for reaping and binding machines;
an infested crop requires more labour to handle and more twine
to bind. The seeds are common in commercial grain and in
flax; clean virgin soil is often polluted with it through sowing
flax on newly broken land. The plant is a harbour for insect
and fungus pests injurious to cultivated crops of allied species,
particularly to turnips and cabbage.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. Hand-pull small. patches when
the weed makes its first appearance. When the grain is three
inches high, use the harrow to destroy the seedling weeds. This
practice, combined with discing immediately after harvest
and thorough summer-fallowing once in three years, will keep
this weed in check and ultimately exterminate it. Badly in-
fested areas may be seeded to grass for three or four years as few
plants will mature seeds in a well-established timothy or western

96 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

rye grass sod. When embedded in moist soil the seeds do not
long retain their vitality.

Hare's-ear Mustard has frequently been introduced into
mixed farming districts but does not long give serious trouble
where systematic crop rotation is practiced. Sheep seem to
like the young succulent plants almost as well as rape and other
cultivated species belonging to this family.

TUMBLING MUSTARD (Sisymbrium altissimum L.).

Other English names: Tall Sisymbrium, Tumble Mustard.

Other Latin names: Sisymbrium sinapistrum Crantz; Sisym-
brium pannonicum Jacq.

Introduced into the Prairie Provinces from central and
southern Europe about 1887. Annual and sometimes winter
annual; 2 to 4 feet high, stem branching, the lower part and
the root-leaves downy and glandular, with a musky odour;
upper part of the stem and the much-divided leaves smooth.
The young plants form a rosette of soft, pale green, downy leaves,
shaped much like those of Common Dandelion. On the flowering
plants the leaves change very much in shape from the root up,
no two being alike. Flowers pale yellow, 1/3 inch in diameter.
Seed pods 2 to 4 inches long, very slender and produced abundant-
ly along the branches. Each pod contains about 120 seeds,
and a single plant has borne as many as 1,500,000 seeds. When
the seeds are ripe the whole head of the plant breaks off and
is blown across the prairie, scattering the seeds far and wide.
The seeds, as in many "tumbling weeds," are not easily shed
from the tough pods; consequently a head of this weed may
blow about the prairie for a whole winter, dropping a few seeds
at intervals for many miles.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 39) is small, 1/25 of an inch long,
olive brown or greenish yellow, minutely roughened witli nuici-

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 97

laginous glands, oblong, angular, cut off transversely at the
scar end, sometimes almost square from compression in the
pod, grooves conspicuously darkened. The miniature root
of the germ prominent and plainly visible through the thin
skin.

Time of flowering: June to July; seed ripe in August.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: In grain fields, roadsides and neglected fire
guards in the West. Occasionally found along railways and in
waste places in other parts of Canada, but not as a farm weed.

Injury : This is one of the mustards with all the bad character-
istics of these aggressive enemies of the farmer; enormously
prolific, with great power to spread, owing to its tumbling
habit, a coarse conspicuous plant and a gross feeder. When
abundant it seriously interferes with cutting and elevating the
crop by self-binders and greatly increases the amount of twine
required. The seeds give an objectionable flavour to ground
grain, and farm stock, with the exception of sheep, refuse to
eat it when it is present in quantity.

Remedy: Harrowing spring grain, as recommended for
other mustards, is effective; if this is done, Tumbling Mustard
will give little trouble. Discing in the fall immediately after
harvest and clean cultivation before seeding in the spring are
recommended. Screenings containing the seeds should be
destroyed. Plants about the edges of fields, along roadsides
and fireguards should not be allowed to mature. New and
reasonably clean fields may be kept clean by hand-puUing.

ALLIED SPECIES: Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale
(L.) Scop.) is a common weed along roadways and waste places,
widely distributed throughout Canada. It seldom gives serious
trouble in fields. The plant is from 2 to 3 feet high and of a
ragged appearance, with small, lobed leaves, small pale yeUow
flowers and thick-walled slender pods, which become hard and
brittle when mature and are closely pressed to the few-branched
stem. This weed is easily destroyed along roads and waste
places by cutting to prevent it from seeding.

98 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

GREEN TANSY MUSTARD (Sisymbrium incisum Engelm., var.

filipes Gray)

Other English name : Cut-leaved Tansy Mustard.
Other Latin name: Sophia incisa (Engelm.) Greene.

Native. Biennial; in the first season, a rosette of finely
divided leaves lying on the ground. Stems, 3 to 4 feet, erect,
widely branching at the top and bearing an enormous number
of narrow, smooth, slightly curved pods, from 1/2 to 3/4 inch long,
on slender, spreading footstalks. Whole plant bright green
and somewhat glandular. Leaves pinnatifid, each division
sub-divided into 2 or 3 linear-oblong segments, with or without
teeth. Flowers yellow, 1/8 inch across in an elongated raceme.

The seed (Plate 73, fig. 40) is small, 1/25 of an inch long,
oblong, sometimes compressed at the scar end, reddish brown,
minutely roughened with mucilaginous hairs.

Time of flowering: July; seeds ripe in August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: In grain crops in the Prairie Provinces and
British Columbia. A wayside weed in eastern Canada, where
it is common along railways and where western grain or mill
feeds have been distributed.

Injury: A weed of rank growth and branching habits that
crowds out grain, greatly reducing the yield. Its bulky nature
makes the operation of harvesting machinery difficult and extra
binder twine necessary.

Remedy: The prevalence of this biennial mustard in grain
fields of the Prairie Provinces is largely due to the practice of
sowing cereal grains on stubble land, with only surface cultivation
in the fall or spring to produce a suitable tilth for a seed-bed,
without first destroying weed growth by plowing, thorough disc-
ing or the use of a broad-shared cultivator. Summer-fallows

I

Plate 36

GR&EN TANSY MUSTARD

(Sisymbrium inCISUm Knrfelm. var nUpfS Oray)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 99

where this weed gives trouble should receive clean cultivation
until late in the fall. Where Tansy Mustard is troublesome
in winter wheat, harrowing in early spring will tear out the
rosettes without injuring the wheat. Waste places where it
thrives should be sown to permanent grass and the weed growth
kept cut until the grass has possession of the soil. Frequent
cutting will prevent it from seeding along roadways and the
borders of fields.

ALLIED SPECIES: Gray or Crowded Tansy Mustard
(Sisymhrium incisum Engelm., var. H articegianum (Fourn.) Watson)
is also a tall, coarse biennial, with much divided foliage like the
above, but differs by being covered with short, gray, downy hairs
and in its more erect habit of growth. It has pods only 1/4 inch
long, all crowded close to the slender branches which form a nar-
row spike-like raceme. Gray Tansy Mustard is the commoner
and more widely distributed plant of the two. It flowers and
ripens its seed some weeks later.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 41) resembles that of Green
Tansy Mustard in shape and colour but is smaller, a little more
flattened by compression in the pods and more abruptly cut off
transversely.

These two coarse biennials grow only from seed, but they
throw out long branches from their white tap roots and draw
nourishment from a wide area. As they stand considerably
above the crop, they are a conspicuous advertisement of negli-
gent farming.

Now is the time, before the thistle blow,
While gule is in the flower, and charlock breathes
Its cloj-ing scent around, the weeding task
To ui^e between the turnip's verdant ranks.
Emburied by the double mould-board, down
On either side the noxious race are laid.
While, by the waves of crumbling earth heaved up.
The plants are cherished.

— James Grahame, British Georgics, 1812

100 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

WORM-SEED MUSTARD (Erysimum cheiranthoides L.)
Other English name : Treacle Mustard.

Native. Annual and winter annual. Stems erect, simple
or branching, 6 inches to 2 feet high. Whole plant sometimes
slightly hoary with short, star-like hairs. Leaves dark green,
lance-shaped, sparsely toothed. Flowers bright yellow, 1/5-inch
across, in terminal clusters about 1 inch across, on gradually
elongating racemes. Seed-pods slightly curved, from 1/2 to 1-inch
long, obtusely 4-angled, erect on spreading footstalks. Each
pod contains about 25 seeds. An average plant will ripen
about 25,000 seeds.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 42) varies somewhat in size and
shape, generally pointed at one end, rounded at the other, about
1/24 of an inch long, reddish yellow, with a dull surface but
almost destitute of mucilage. Scar end darkened. The miniature
root of the germ is conspicuous. The seeds are very bitter.

Time of flowering: June to autumn; seeds ripe July to frost.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : Frequent in waste places and on cultivated
land throughout Canada.

Injury: On account of the pungent flavour, stock will refuse
to eat grain in which these seeds are present in any appreciable
quantity. It is a common weed in clover fields and is avoided
by all farm stock, except sheep, either in pasture or in cured
hay. If neglected, it will grow in dense masses and crowd out
crops. The seeds are frequently found in grass and clover seeds.

Remedy: The seeds are short-lived, and this mustard is
kept well under control on land worked under a short crop
rotation with clean cultivation. In districts where cereal
grains predonimate, the cultivation of bare stubble land, as
recommended for other mustards, followed by discing in the
spring before seeding, will keep this pest in check. The seeds
can be cleaned from clover seed by screening.

Plate 37

WORM-SE-ED MUSTARD

(Erysirr.um chei rant-hoides /..)

THE MUSTARD FAMILY 101

ALLIED SPECIES: Small Erysimum (Erysimum parvi-
flonim Nutt.) is a perennial species commonly met in Ontario
as a wayside weed, occasionally giving trouble about the edges
of fields and in old meadows and pastures. It is widely distrib-
uted in western Canada, but not so abundant as Worm-seed
Mustard. It is less branched than the former species, the leaves
more slender, and the pods much longer, on shorter footstalks.

Western Wall-flower or Prairie Rocket (Erysimum asperum
D.C.). A prominent object on dry, gravelly soil throughout the
prairie region. The plant is characterized by its minutely
roughish-hoary appearance, lance-shaped to linear leaves, bright
orange yellow flowers, and long, almost erect pods.

Yellow Rocket or Yellow Weed (Barbarea vulgaris R. Br.).
A common and conspicuous wayside weed along the Atlantic
Coast. A smooth perennial, lower leaves much divided, the
terminal division round and usually large, upper leaves obovate,
pinnatifid at the base, pods erect or nearly so, on spreading
footstalks. »

Rock Cresses (Arabis), many of which are widely dis-
tributed throughout Canada, seldom give serious trouble as
farm weeds. Tower Mustard (Arabis glabra (L.) Bernh.) is a
representative of this genus and is commonly seen along rail-
ways and in waste places. The general characteristics of the
genus are: long, somewhat flattened seed-pods, leaves seldom
divided, and flowers usually white or purple.

A rural charm against dodder, tetter, and strangling weeds, is by placing a chalked
tile at the four corners, and one in the middle of our fields, which, though ridiculous in
its intention, was rational in the contrivance, and a good way to diffuse the magic through
all parts of the area.

— Sir Thomas Browne, 1650.

102 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE CAPER FAMILY {Capparidaceae).

Closely allied to the Mustard is the Caper family, which
has some important characteristics in common with it, such
as cross-shaped flowers, seeds in pods, but these without partitions,
and often acrid or pungent juice. The chief differences between
the two families are that in the Mustard family four of the six
stamens are long and two short, while in the Caper family all
six are equal, and the pods of the former are two-celled and usually
divided by a thin partition across the middle.

Spider-flower or Stinking Clover (Cleome serrulata Pursh.)
is a native annual, tall, smooth, hairless, with erect stem,
branched above and alternate leaves composed of 3 leaflets,
spreading from the apex of the footstalk, like the fingers of a
hand. Flowers pink or white, showy. The pods are long and
narrow, striped, and many seeded.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 44) is round-wedge-shaped or elong-
ated-kidney-shaped, with a deep curved groove running up each
face 2/3 of the way to the top from just above the sharp-pointed
base. When ripe it is dark brown, roughened with pale, scurfy
protuberances; the dry unripe seed is yellowish. Sometimes
found in cereal grain.

A persistent weed that occasionally gives trouble in cereal
crops in the Prairie Provinces. In crops sown on stubble, it fre-
quently forms dense masses that crowd out the grain. Prevent
the plant from producing seed on fire-guards and around the
edges of fields by mowing in July and August. Areas badly
infested should be summer-fallowed. Stubble lands should
be shallow-plowed or thoroughly disced in fall or spring.

Clammy-weed (Polanisia graveolens Raf.) is a low-growing
wayside weed with an unpleasant smell and sticky, hairy
leaves, having 3 oblong leaflets. Common along railways and
in waste places in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Ontario and
western Canada; occasionally giving trouble in cultivated crops.

THE ROSE FAMILY 103

THE ORPINE FAMILY {Cra^sukcea^).

Succulent herbs with flowers having as many or twice as
many pistils as calyx and corolla divisions, usually borne in
cymes. Leaves stalkless, generally fleshy. Plants of this
family are also commonly called Stonecrop.

Live-for-ever (Sedum jmrpureum Tausch) is a cultivated
plant with thick stems about 2 feet high and fleshy oval stalkless
leaves. When occurring as a weed it is difficult to suppress. It
spreads principally from the root, but parts of the stems dis-
tributed by the plow or cultivator will root and rapidly develop
into vigorous plants. Where well established, it excludes other
cultivated plants.

When under cultivation it should be closely guarded.
Occasional plants may be destroyed by the application of
salt about the stems in dry hot weather. Where well estab-
lished, the land should be given over to bare fallow with frequent
cultivation of a kind that will unearth the underground vegeta-
tion, so that it can be burnt or otherwise destroyed.

THE ROSE FAMILY {Rosaceae).

The Rose family is more remarkable for ornamental and
fruit bearing plants than for agricultural pests. It is extensive
and contains plants with regular flowers and alternate leaves,
generally having appendages on each side of the footstalk, by
which their relationship is shown. They present great
diversity in their fruit which may be papery and pocket-like as
in the meadowsweets, fleshy and urn-like as in the roses,
succulently fleshy as in the raspberry and strawberry, or hard
and dry as in the cinquefoils.

To this family belong the most troublesome Prairie Roses
{Rosa pratincola Greene or Rosa arkansana of Canadian writers,

104 FARM WREDS OF CANADA

which includes Rosa acicularis, var. Bourgeauiana Cr6pin). In
southern Manitoba this dwarf, large-flowered rose is very per-
sistent. Its deep, perennial rootstocks send up many flowering
shoots from the axils of the scales.

The seeds (Plate 74, fig. 46) vary greatly in size and shape,
averaging about 1/6 of an inch long, generally irregular, angular,
with hard, yellowish shells. They are often found in the screen-
ings of western grain.

To destroy roses, the land should be plowed with a sharp
plow in hot weather and then twice disced at intervals of a week
or ten days. T. N. Willing recommends deep spring plowing
rather than stubble cropping for land infested with Wild Rose
and similar shrubs.

HARDHACK (Spiraea tomentosa L.).

Other English name : Steeple Bush.

Native. Perennial. A pretty, dwarf shrub, 2 to 3 feet,
with short-stalked, ovate, thick, toothed leaves, smooth above
but downy beneath. The flowers are pink, rarely white, borne
on erect branches in dense, steeple-like terminal panicles.

The seeds are enclosed, several together, in a downy, papery
pocket, whitish at the base, pink to brown from the middle to
the tipped apex. They are linear, about 1/16 of an inch long,
white to brownish, with a thin, loose coat.

Time of flowering: July to September; seed ripe September.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Especially in low rich soils in open woods,
rocky places and about lakes, from Nova Scotia to Georgian Bay;
abundant in Quebec.

Injury: This native Hardback does not long give trouble on
land brought under cultivation and crop rotation with frofjuent

Plate 38

HARDHACK or STEEPLE: BUSH
(Spiraea ^omen^osa /..'

THE ROSE FAMILY 105

plowing. It rapidly spreads and takes possession of rich, moist
pasture lands.

Remedy: Repeated cutting, to prevent it from seeding,
will keep it in check. A handful of salt, applied after close
cutting in hot weather when the soil is quite dry, will kill the
root; this may be practicable on areas where the pest is not
very abundant. Hand-pulling is recommended for loose land
in which portions of the roots are not apt to break ofif and re-
main in the soil. If at all possible, land over-run with this
weed should be cleared and brought under cultivation with a
summer-fallow, entailing two or three plowings before it is put
under crop. Sheep are said to feed on the young and tender
plants when their favorite pasture grasses are short.

ALLIED SPECIES: Meadow Sweet (Spiraea salicifolia L.)
in its several forms is occasionally met in low places, from Nova
Scotia westward to the Rocky Mountains, where it was found
by J. W. Macoun. It has tough, yellowish-brown stems, leaves
dentate like a fine saw; flowers white, arranged in contracted,
cylindrical panicles covered with matted, wooUy hairs.

And Fumitory too, a name
Which Superstition holds to fame.
Whose red and purple mottled Plowers
Are cropped by maids in weeding hours.
To boil in water, milk, and whey.
For washes on a holiday.
To make their beauty fair and sleek.
And scare the tan from Siimmer's cheek.

— Qare, 1820.

And because igaorance is the chief cause of neglect of many rare things, which happ>en
to their \-iew at sometimes, which are not to be seen again j)eradventvu-e, or not in many
yeares after, I would heartily advise all men of meanes, to be stirred up to bend their
mindes, and sp)end a Uttle more time and traveU in these delights of herbes and flowers,
than they have formerly done which are not onelj- harralesse, but pleasurable in their
turn, and profitable in their use.

— Parkinson, 1629

106 FARM WP]EDS OF CANADA

UPRIGHT CINQUEFOIL (Potentilla monspeliensis L.)

Other English name: Rough Cinquefoil.
Other Latin name : Potentilla hirsuta Michx.

Native. Annual. Erect, branching, rough-hairy. The 3
leaflets of each leaf are obovate; those of the top leaves, which
are stalkless are toothed nearly the whole length. The mode
of flowering is a leafy, rather close cyme of yellow flowers. The
seeds are grouped together on the receptacle, which is long,
thin and downy.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 45) when ripe is leather-brown,
dull, about 1/30 of an inch long, bluntly comma-shaped, with
curved branching veins running longitudinally. Commonly
found in timothy seed.

Time of fliowering: June-July; seeds ripe July to September.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : Widely distributed throughout Canada.

Injury: A weed of secondary importance, common in old
meadows and worn-out sandy soils.

Remedy: Repeated close cutting will keep it in check in
waste places. It will not long give trouble on land worked under a
short rotation of crops, including clover and hoed crops once
every four years. Good drainage and enrichment of the soil
will stimulate a more vigorous growth of cultivated crops and
choke out this weed.

ALLIED SPECIES: The genus Potentilla is widely distrib-
uted, comprising many species closely related to the Upright
Cinquefoil, as Potentilla monspeliensis L., var. norvegica (L.)
Rydb., also commonly called Upright or Rough Cinquefoil. It
is distinguished by less hairyness and by somewhat more narrow-
ly oblong leaves. Both occur in similar situations and have
about the same distributive range.

The seeds of the cinquefoils are very similar and their
identification is sometimes difficult. They vary only slightly

Plate 39

UPRIGHTOR ROUGH CiNQU&FOlL
<Porenrilla monspeliensis z..>

THE PEA FAMILY 107

in size and in the roughness of the. net-like veins covering the
surface, which sometimes are not apparent, especially when
the seeds are not quite ripe.

Silverweed (Potentilla Anserina L.), occasionally mis-named
Buttercup, is sometimes found in moist land. It is a perennial
with slender, jointed runners, which root and form new plants
at each joint like the strawberry. The leaves, silvery hairy
beneath, are composed of from 3 to 10 large, oval, sharply-toothed
leaflets on each side of the stalk, with very small ones between
them. The long-stalked, golden-yellow flowers, nearly an inch
across, are followed by a cluster of dry, smooth seeds. Silverweed
roots on the surface of the ground and is best controlled by
draining the land and plowing down the plants.

THE PEA FAMILY {Leguminosae).

This large and important family is well represented in
Canada and contains many useful plants, such as peas, beans
and clovers, as well as some poisonous species, as the Loco
Weeds (Oxytropis) and Golden Bean (Thermopsis) of the
western plains, and a small number of weeds of secondary
importance. All plants of the Pea family collect nitrogen from
the air and render it available for plant food.

Every species of this family can be recognized by one of
two characteristics; either a butterfly-shaped corolla, such
as we find on a large scale in the sweet pea, or a pod, technically
called a legume, for a fruit, like that of the same plant
or of the garden pea. By far the larger number of the plants
have both characteristics.

Rabbit's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense L.) is a useless
member of this family, not common in Canada and of little
importance.

* The Sweet Clovers (Melilotus alba Desr. and MelHotus officinalis
(L.) Lam.), often complained of by farmers, are biennial way-
side weeds which are easily subdued by preventing them from
seeding, as each plant lives for two years only.

108 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Black Medick {Medicago lupulina L.), also called Yellow
Trefoil, is a useful pasture forage plant and in Europe the seed
is frequently sown with mixtures of pasture grasses. The
seed is common in clover seeds. It is sometimes mixed with
alfalfa and red clover seeds as an adulterant when the latter
are high in price. Mixed with red clover or alsike it should
be treated as a weed, inasmuch as the plant matures earlier and
the stems are hard and woody when the clover is ready to
cut for hay. It has little value except as a pasture plant.

The seed-pods of a few members of the Pea family develop
into burs and stick to wool, as, for instance, the Spotted and
Toothed Medicks (Medicago arabica Huds. and Medicago hispida
Gaertn.), neither of which, however, has established itself
firmly in Canada. The only plant of the Pea family giving
trouble in this way is Wild Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota
(Nutt.) Pursh) which occurs on the prairies.

Loco Weed (Oxytropis Lamherti Pursh.) differs from the
Milk Vetches (Astragalus) of the western plains in that
the keel of the flower is tipped with a sharp-pointed appendage.
All varieties of Loco Weed are common on the plains of Alberta
and Saskatchewan and are believed to be the cause of a peculiar
mental disorder among horses and cattle.

WILD TARE (Vicia angustijolia (L.) Reichard)
Other English names: Wild Pea, Wild Vetch.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, hairless or downy. Stem
slender, simple or branched at the base. Leaves are composed
of 2-5, rarely 6, pairs of linear or lance-shaped leaflets. Flowers
1/2 to 3/4 inch long, purple, 1 or 2 in the upper axils of the leaves.
Pods black and linear, with the tips sharp and turned upwards,
2 inches long, 4 to 12-seeded.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 48) is round, ranging from 1/10 to 1/6
of an inch in diameter, velvety black or olive brown, mottled
with white and dotted with fine black spots; the whitish scar

Plate 40

COMMON VETCH OR WILD TARE

(Vicia angusl"ifolia (Dficrc/tanf)

THE PEA FAMILY 109

about 1/5 of the circumference of the seed in length, thin, thread-
like.

Time of flowering: June to August; seeds ripe by August.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Widely distributed in cereal crops and as a
wayside weed throughout eastern Canada.

Injury: When present in quantity. Wild Tares materially
reduce the yield of grain; they sometimes mat the crop by
twining about the stems of the grain and make it more likely
to lodge. It is often difficult to operate self-binders in grain
crops matted with this weed. The seeds are exceedingly common
in grain and are especially objectionable in oats required for
milling.

Remedy: Sow clean seed grain. Adopt a short rotation
of crops, including early maturing barley rather than oats, on
lands where this weed is prevalent. Cultivate bare stubble
directly after harvest, to stimulate germination of seeds, and
pasture off the crop so produced. Badly infested fields may
be seeded to grass for three or four years, but this wUl be found
necessary only when a crop rotation, to prevent it from seeding,
can not be followed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Cultivated Tare or Spring Vetch (Vicia
saliva L.), so valuable for fodder and known to some farmers
as Vetches or Fitches, somewhat resembles Wild Tare, but
has much larger leaves and flowers 3/4-1^ inches long, with brown
pods, and does not persist in the land when sown. The seed
is nearly 1/4 inch in diameter, generally plain black, the thread-
like scar running about 1/4 the circumference e' the seed.

Purple Tufted Vetch {Vicia Cracca L.) is a persistent perennial
rather difficult to get out of old meadows, but it produces a
large crop of rich fodder which is rather beneficial than other-
wise in hay. The seed is similar to that of Wild Tare but the
scar is much broader and longer, about 1/3 to 1/2 the circum-
ference of the seed.

110 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Hairy or Winter Vetch {Vicia Villosa Roth.) is a cultivated
variety, the seed of which closely resembles that of spring vetch.

The seeds of the above mentioned species are often difficult to
identify, owing to their great variation in size, shape and colour.
They are common in cereal grain.

THE SPURGE FAMILY (Euphorbiaceae).

This family belongs to the flora of tropical and temperate
climates and is widely distributed as herbs, shrubs and trees.
Those common in Canada are principally low, prostrate weeds,
mostly introduced and naturalized. The abundant, milky,
acrid juice they contain is a characteristic of the family. This
juice acts as an irritant and is poisonous. The plants are seldom
attacked by insects or fungus growths.

Wax-ball or Three-seeded Mercury (Acalypha virginica
L.), common in river flats and low fields in Ontario and east-
ward, belongs to this family. It is a leafy plant, 1 to 2 feet high,
with long-stalked, ovate leaves. It gives trouble in pastures,
meadows and fields. On account of its acrid juice it is avoided
by live stock and entails considerable waste wherever it
occurs. The seed is about 1/16 inch long, yellowish-gray, ovoid
in outline, and comparatively soft, sometimes found in clover
seeds. Clover fields should be rogued of this weed before the
crop is harvested for seed.

Sun Spurge {Euphorbia Helioscopia L.), introduced, is an
erect annual, abundant in eastern Canada. Mode of flower-
ing, nearly flat-topped, umbrella-like, surrounded at the base
with a whorl of stalkless, obovate, finely and thickly dentate
leaves. Pod or capsule smooth and even, 3-lobed.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 49) at first sight somewhat resembles
the nutlets of plants of the Mint family, or, better, the pods of
Ball Mustard in miniature. When examined closely^ however,
it is easily recognized. It is rounded-oval in outline, rolling
freely on a smooth surface, a little flattened on one face, with
a sharp central ridge running to the apex. The sides of the
seed not angled, as in those of the Mint family, the whole surface
coarsely netted; scar kidney-shaped, white and very conspicuous.

THE MALLOW FAMILY 111

Sun Spurge is a common weed in gardens and waste places.
Cultivated in Europe for decoration. Most troublesome on
light, sandy soils. The seeds are a frequent impurity in commer-
cial seeds. Clear up waste places and seed to permanent grass.
Hand-pull and hoe in gardens. Special care is required to pre-
vent the ripening of seed late in the summer. It will not long
trouble lands worked under a short rotation with clean cultivation.

Ridge - seeded Spurge (Euphorbia glypto-sperma Engelm)
is an erect, spreading, hairless, annual plant, with linear-
oblong leaves and sharply four-angled seeds; common on gravelly
soils in fields and waste places in Ontario and locally in the
Prairie Provinces and British Columbia.

Milk Purslane (Euphorbia macvlata L.) is abundant along
railways or waste places and in cultivated fields in Ontario and
occasionally westward. It is a prostrate plant with minutely
downy stems, linear-oblong leaves, pods acutely angled, seeds
gray, small, sharply four-angled, with four shallow grooves
across each concave side.

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata L.) is common on dry,
sandy soils in western Ontario. Erect, with deep rootstocks,
hairless or sparingly hairy. This plant may be distinguished
by the showy white appendages, like corolla divisions, of the
forked umbrella-like flowering clusters.

THE MALLOW FAMILY (Malvaceae).

This family is represented by a relatively small number of
species of herbs and shrubs. Two species deserve mention
as weeds of secondary importance.

Spiny Sida (Sida spinosa L.) is a profusely branched herb,
about 1 foot high, covered with soft hairs. Leaves oblong or
egg-shaped on long footstalks, dentate, with sharp teeth
pointing forward. Flowers greenish-yellow, small and shaped
like those of the hollyhock.

Round-leaved Mallow, Common Mallow or Cheeses (Malva
rotundifolia L.) is a common garden weed, well known by its
round, scalloped leaves, white and pink flowers and the
arrangement of the seeds in the form of a cheese. The seeds
are unusually long-lived.

112 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY {Hypericaceae).

Herbs and shrubs of some 200 species, widely distributed
over the northern hemisphere, mostly in warm climates, represent
this family. The leaves are opposite, without teeth or divisions,
oblong or lance-shaped, dotted, usually stalkless. Flowers regular,
with many divisions, terminal, solitary or disposed in single or
compound cymes, commonly yellow. The common name,
St. John's-wort, comes from the use of plants of that family
in Europe as decoration on St. John's Day.

COMMON ST. JOHN'S-WORT {Hypericum 'perforatum L.)

Other English names: Amber, Penny-John, Rosin, Rose,
Herb-John.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial by runners at the
woody base of the erect, much-branched, somewhat 2-edged
stem. Leaves opposite without teeth or divisions, elliptic or
linear oblong, black-dotted along the margin like the corolla
divisions. Flowers deep yellow, grouped into terminal, loose
cymes.

The seeds (Plate 74, fig. 50) are borne in 3-celled, ovoid
pods. They are about 1/25 of an inch long, cylindrical,
rounded at the ends, with a minute point. The surface is
rough, pitted, a little shiny, dark brown to black in colour.

Time of flowering: June to September; seeds ripe by July.

Propagation : By seeds and rootstocks.

Occurrence: Common in pastures, old meadows and road-
ways, from Nova Scotia to Ontario.

Injury: This weed and some of its allied species are trouble-
some in fields and pasture lands.

Remedy: Close cutting several times during the summer
will reduce it in pastures. An application of salt — a small

Plate 41

COMMON ST. JOMN'S-WORT

(Hypericum perForekl"um /, )

THE EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 113

handful to each plant after close cutting in hot dry weather —
will kill it and may be practicable where the pest is not abundant
and the land can not be brought under cultivation. Prevent
it from going to seed. St. John's- wort is easily suppressed on
land that can be cultivated under a systematic rotation of
crops. Where it is established, it would be well not to seed
to grass until it is suppressed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Great St. John's-wort (HypeHcum As-
cyron L.) is a common, coarse-growing weed in low rich soils
and about swamps in Quebec and Ontario, occasionally occur-
ring in old meadows and pastures along river flats.

Spotted or Corymbed St. John's-wort {Hypericum punctatum
Lam.), about 2 feet in height, is abundant in the Bruce
peninsula of Lake Huron, and quite general throughout
Ontario, Quebec and eastward to Nova Scotia. Like the other
named species, it frequently occurs in low meadows, much to
the detriment of the hay.

Pale St. John's-wort {Hypericum ellipticum Hook.), with its
bright yellow flowers, is common in Quebec, Northern Ontario,
and westward to Lake Winnipeg.

THE EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY
{Onagraceae) .

A few weeds belong to this family and also many showy flower-
ing plants, such as the fuchsias, clarkias and evening-primroses.
A few kinds of Willow-herbs {Epilobinm), also known as Fire-
weeds, are noticeable as weeds. The kinds most common
in cultivated lands are Great Willow-herb or Fireweed {Epilohium
angustifolium L.) and Sticky Fireweed {Epilohium adenocaulon
Haussk.). These are rather persistent on wet land, the latter
from its running perennial rootstocks and the former chiefly
from the great number of downy seeds it produces. Of the
Evening Primroses, two species require mention, White
Evening Primrose and Common Evening Primrose.

114 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

WHITE EVENING PRIMROSE (Oenothera pallida Lindl.)

Other English name: White-stemmed Evening Primrose.

Other Latin names: Oenothera albicaulis Niitt. and Canadian
authors; Anogr a pallida {Lindl. ) Britton.

Native. Perennial. Roots white and fleshy, wide-spread-
ing and throwing up flowering stems at intervals, thus forming
large patches. Stems mostly simple, shining white, sparsely
downy above, erect or nearly so, about 3 feet high. Leaves from
1 to 4 inches long, narrow and waved, sometimes pinnatifid
but usually without teeth or divisions in plants found in the
West. Flowers axillary, large and handsome, 1| inches across,
waxy-white, turning pinkish as they fade, open in day time,
odour unpleasant. Tips of the calyx divisions at the ends
of the buds free, as 4 little points. Capsules narrow and curved,
4-angled, about 1 inch long with the seeds in single rows in each
of the 4 cells.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 52) is about 1/16 of an inch long,
normally spindle-shaped but angular and somewhat twisted
by compression in the pod, smooth and mucilaginous when
soaked, yellowish-brown; under the microscope minutely dotted
with black and faintly striate lengthwise.

Time of flowering: July- August; seeds ripe in September.

Propagation: By seeds and extensive deep-running fleshy
rootstocks, every part of which when broken will throw out
shoots and form new plants.

Occurrence : Manitoba and westward to British Columbia.

Injury: This deep-rooted perennial is very persistent in
sandy land.

Remedy: Summer-fallow with deep or shallow plowing,
according to the nature of the soil, after the growth has been
made in summer. Cultivate in fall or in spring before seeding
to a crop.

Plate 42

WHITE- E-VENING-PRIMROSE

(Oenorhera pallida /.md/)

THE PARSL?ri- FAMILY 115

ALLIED SPECIES: Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera
biennis L.) is a tall, coarse biennial which occurs throughout
the country and is easily recognized by its tall, branching habit
(4 ft. by 3 ft.), its soft, downy, lance-shaped leaves, and its
large, showy, yellow flowers which open in the evening.

The seeds (Plate 74, fig. 51) are frequent in clover seed.
They are produced in large numbers in long, tapering, 4-celled
capsules, 2 rows of seed in each cell, which are clustered all
along the stems. They are about 1/16 of an inch long, dark
reddish-brown, and with a roughened surface much angled by
compression in the pods.

Common Evening Primrose makes only a rosette of leaves the
first year. For this reason it appears only in crops sown in autumn
or on stubble. In thin clover fields it sometimes occurs con-
spicuously and should be either spudded out or cut off below
the crown in the first season: or the tall flowering plants should
be cut off below the surface and pulled out before the seeds
ripen. On stubble land to be sown to grain, the rosette-like
plants should be destroyed by fall or spring cultivation. As the
pods do not easily shed their seeds and the plants are at all
times conspicuous, much contamination of clover seed may
be prevented by a little care at harvest time.

THE PARSLEY FAMILY {UmheUijerae).

This family contains many herbaceous plants of weedy
appearance, seldom of much floral beauty, but important as food,
either for their large succulent roots, as carrot and parsnip
or for their fleshy leaf stalks, as celery. The seeds of many
are aromatic and wholesome, as caraway and coriander. Many
like cowbane and hemlock, contain virulent poisons. The
leaves are mostly pinnatifid, repeatedly sub-divided, and the
flowers are borne in mostly flat-topped, umbrella-like clusters,
more or less compound. The corolla has 5 divisions, often un-
equal in size.

116 ■ FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

The fruit when ripe, separates into 2 seed-Hke halves, com-
monly called seeds, each having 5 main or primary ribs running
lengthwise, which, in the different plants, are modified into
wings or rows of bristles or prickles, of great value in distinguish-
ing the species; sometimes there are 4 secondary or intermediate
ribs. The corky coat of the "seeds" bears several longitudinal
cavities filled with resinous or oily substances, which give them
their characteristic odours and flavours. The true seed is in-
side the fruit and is tasteless.

Nearly all the wild forms of the Parsley family are noxious
weeds from the fact that they harbour insect and fungus pests
that attack celery, parsnips and carrots.

SPOTTED COWBANE (Cicuta maculata L.)

Other English names: Cowbane, Water Hemlock, Mus-
quash Root, Beaver Poison, also wrongly called Water "Parsnip."
Other Latin name: Cicuta virosa ysii'. maculata Coult & Rose.

Native. Perennial. Stems stout, erect, hollow and jointed,
widely branching, .3 to 6 feet high, quite smooth, pale green,
dotted and streaked with purple. Root, a bundle of a few
fleshy, spindle-shaped tubers, like small parsnips. Leaves
compound, in 2 or 3 divisions, clasping by an expanded base,
the lower on long footstalks, the upper stalkless. The leaflets
lance-shaped deeply toothed. Flowers small, white, in com-
pound, umbrella-like clusters 1 to 4 inches across; the little
footstalks of the many flowered secondary clusters unequal,,
from 1 to 2 inches long.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 53) 1/12 of an inch long, smooth,
ovate, compressed on the sides, separating into boat-shaped,
ribbed halves. When cut across, the seed shows 4 oil tubes
between the ribs and 2 on the flat side.

Time of flowering: July - August ; seeds ripe August-
Septendjer.

Propagation: Copiously by seeds and by offsets from the
crown of the root at the base of the old stem.

Plate 43

SPOTTED COWBANE OR WATER HEMLOCK
(Cicuha maculaha l)

THE PARSLEY FAMILY 117

Occurrence: In low land along waterways, probably right
across the Dominion,

Injury: Roots intensely poisonous to stock, particularly
cattle, which pull them out and eat them freely when grazing
in spring. The roots look like small parsnips and, like them,
have a strong aromatic odour, which seems to make them attrac-
tive to stock. It is claimed that the flowering plants, when cut
with hay, may be eaten by animals without any ill effects, but
that the seed-bearing plants are dangerous. The whole plant,
however, contains some of the poisonous principle, although
it is true that this is most abundant in the roots and the seeds.
Consequently no hay containing Spotted Cowbane or other
Water Hemlocks (also called Water "Parsnips") should be fed.

This plant — and in the West probably two or three allied
species closely resembling it, Oregon Water Hemlock {Cicuta
vagans Greene), Purple-stemmed Water Hemlock (Cicuta
Douglasii C. & R.) and Wyoming Water Hemlock (Cicuta
occidentalis Greene)— is the cause of many deaths in spring
among cattle, and unfortunately, in cases where much of the
plant has been eaten, no remedy can be applied. On the plains
when mild cases are discovered in time, two or three daily doses
of lard or bacon grease are administered, but it is seldom that
anything can be done, on account of the intense virulence and
quick action of the poison. A piece of the root of Oregon
Water Hemlock, about the size of a walnut, is said by Prof-
Hedrick, to be sufficient to kill a cow in about fifteen minutes.

Remedy: From the nature of the localities where Water
Hemlock grows, hand-pulling is the best treatment for this
dangerous weed. This is easily done, particularly if the roots
are first loosened with a spud or some other implement. The
plants should be carefully piled up to dry and then burnt or other-
wise destroyed. The poisonous principle, called cicutoxin,
is of a resinous or oily nature and will contaminate water, if,
as is sometimes done, the pulled-up plants are thrown into
sloughs where they may be trampled upon by stock. It is

118 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

important that stockmen should be able to recognize these
plants, so as to destroy them whenever seen, or else to keep their
animals away from localities where they grow too abundantly to
be pulled out by hand,

ALLIED SPECIES: Caraway {Carum carvi L.) has escaped
from gardens and become a troublesome weed in many places.
The roots are thick and fleshy and the whole plant bears a strong
resemblance to Wild Carrot. It is frequently prevalent
in waste places about gardens.

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca saliva L.) is a weed that is believed
to have escaped from cultivation; it is common about gardens
and old dwellings throughout eastern Canada. In appearance
it is not dissimilar to the cultivated kinds. The root is poisonous
and should be exterminated. If not spread over large areas,
the plant may be destroyed by applying a small handful of salt
to the root after the top is closely cut in hot dry weather. It
will not long survive continued thorough cultivation.

. Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota L.) is an objectionable weed
along roadsides, waste places, old meadows, and occasionally
gives trouble in cultivated fields, though not on land under
regular rotation of crops. Old meadows infested with it should
be broken up and cultivated for a few years. Sheep will suppress
it in pasture lands. The cultivated carrot probably origin-
ated from this wild plant.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 54) is characteristic of the family.
The main or primary ribs are inconspicuous while the secondary
ones are prominent, winged and armed with long prickles, which,
however, are easily rubbed off. Occasional in commercial grass
and clover seeds; most common in imported stocks.

Idle weeds are fast in growth.

— Shakespeare, Richard III, Act III, sc. 1, 1.594

THE MILKWEED FAMILY 119

THE MILKWEED FAMILY (Asdepiadaceae).

Milkweeds or Silkweeds are widely distributed throughout
North America and are best known by their milky juice, opposite
or whorled leaves, and flat-topped clusters of showy flowers.
They are persistent perennials in waste places and are difficult
to suppress in cultivated land.

Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy-root (Asclepias tnherosa L.)
grows from 2 to 3 feet high from long horizontal roots. The
whole plant is roughish-hairy and very leafy. The leaves are
oblong-ovate, stalkless or with very short footstalks. A showy
plant with orange flowers. Abundant in Ontario.

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incamata L.) grows in marshes
and ditches from the Atlantic Coast westward to Saskatchewan.
About 5 feet high, very leafy, but smooth and with rose-purple
or flesh-coloured flowers.

Common Milkweed or Silkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) is
abundant on roadsides, in waste places, pastures and fields
from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan. It is taller than the
preceding species, covered with soft, fine hairs; leaves oval,
pale underneath. The flowers are deep purple to whitish,
flower clusters often nodding. This perennial weed spreads
by its broad, winged seeds and by its deep, thick, fleshy, persistent
rootstocks. Repeated cutting when in flower, continued from
year to year, will suppress it. Salt applied to individual plants
after cutting in hot dry weather is said to be efficacious. Deep
plowing and thorough cultivation with short rotation of crops
will eradicate it from fields.

There be Plants that have MUk in them when they are cut; as Figs, Old Lettuce,
Sow-thistles, Spurge, etc. The cause may be an inception of Putrefaction: For those
Milks have all an Acrimony, though one would think they should be Lenitive. . . Letttice
is thought Poysonous, when it is so old as to have MUk, Spurge a kind of pKjj'son in it
self; and as for Sow-Thistles, though Coneys eat them, yet sheep and Cattle will not touch
them; and besides, the Milk of them, rubbed upon Warts, in short time weareth them
awaj': Which showeth the MUk of them to be Corrosive. We see also, that Wheat
and other Corn sawn, if you take them forth of the Ground, before they sprout, are full
of Milk; and the beginning of Germination is ever a kind of Putrefaction of the Seed.
Euphobium also hath a Milk, though not very white, which is of great Acrimony. And
Saladine hath a yellow Milk, which hath likewise much Acrimony, for it cleanseth the
Eyes, it is good also for Cataracts.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

120 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE MORNING GLORY or CONVOLVULUS
FAMILY (Convolvulaceae).

The plants of this family possess characteristics by which
they are easily recognized: i.e., the twining stems, the trumpet-
shaped flowers, and the fruits which are spherical cartilaginous
capsules with distinct divisions. The three following species
of Morning Glory are classed as weeds, besides a few varieties
of Dodders which are closely allied to them and represent
the only genus of the tribe Cuscuteae. These are curious,
annual, leafless parasites, occurring as loose, tangled masses of
fleshy threads, with clusters of flowers or small, round pods
at short intervals, attached to various plants from which they
draw their nourishment.

FIELD BINDWEED (Convolvulus arvensis L.)

Other English names: Bindweed, Small Bindweed, JCuropean
Bindweed, Small-flowered Morning Glory.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, deep-rooting, with
extensive, creeping, cord-like, fleshy rootstocks; these throw
up numerous slender branching and twining smooth stems,
which form thick mats on the surface of the land and twist
around any plants growing within reach, using them as supports
and choking them out. Leaves about 1 to 1-2-inches long on
slender stalks, ovate or heart-shaped, arrow-shaped at base.
Flower-stalks slender, about the same length as the leaves,
provided with miniature leaves at some distance below the
large, open, funnel-shaped, pink flowers, which are over an inch
across. Fruit a round cartilaginous, 2-celled capsule, containing
3 to 4 seeds.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 55) is rather large, 1/6 of an inch long,
dark brown, pear-shaped; one face convex, the other bluntly
angled with flat sides. Surface roughened with small tubercles;

Plate 44

FIELD BINDWEED
(Convolvulus arvensis z.)

THE MORNINO GLORY OR COXVOL\'ULUS FAMILY 121

the basal scar is a roughly lined, reddish depression at the
lower pointed end. Germ much folded and crumpled inside
the seed.

Time of flowering: From June throughout the summer;
seeds ripe by August.

Propagation : By seeds and running rootstocks, every portion
of which will produce a new plant if broken up by the plow.
In many localities, as at Ottawa, this plant produces few seeds.
It has, however, everywhere a most persistent habit of growth.

Occurrence : Although widespread throughout the Dominion
and in restricted localities very troublesome, Field Bindweed,
fortunately, can not as yet be called a common weed of Canada.

Injury: Exceedingly hard to eradicate, from its almost
incredible persistence, owing to the vitality of the fleshy root-
stocks.

Remedy: A short rotation of crops should be practiced,
including late sown roots or other cultivated crops; rape is
useful for this purpose. Frequent use of a broad-shared cultivator
will destroy new growths and exhaust the vitality of the plants.
Sow no crop seeds containing those of Field Bindweed.
Applications of salt or lime, sometimes recommended to kill this
weed, are useless unless applied in large quantities.

ALLIED SPECIES: Upright Bindweed (Convolvulus spith-
amaeus L.) is occasionally complained of in sandy land. Hedge
or Great Bindweed {Convolvulus sepium L. and varieties) some-
times give trouble for a year or two after land is broken in the
Prairie Provinces.

Convolvulus will next in boundless Stores,
Cloath the moist vale with yet unfinish'd Flow'rs;
These rude Essays were first for Lilly's meant.
When Nature on a nobler work intent,
First took the pencil and began to paint.

— Rapin, 1650.

122 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

CLOVER DODDER {Cuscuta Epithymvm Murr.)

Other English names: Love Vine, Lesser or Thyme Dodder.
Other Latin name: Cuscuta Trifolii Bab.

Introduced from Europe. An annual with slender yellowish
and reddish stems, which twine about the host plant and become
attached to the clover stems by suckers through which
the parasite obtains nourishment from the host. The plant
appears to be leafless, the leaves being reduced to small scales.
Flowers whitish or pinkish, in clusters along the thread-like,
twining stems.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 56) is small, from 1/30 to 1/20 of
an inch in diameter, yellow or brown, irregularly spherical,
and more or less angled on the inner scar-bearing side; the
surface granular-roughened. When soaked, the germ is seen
to be spirally coiled, wormlike.

Time of flowering: July to November; seeds ripe by Sep-
tember, when they fall to the ground and germinate the following
spring.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence : The abundant occurrence of Dodder seeds
among imported alfalfa and clover seeds offered for sale during
recent years, as well as the presence of the plant in some fields
of alfalfa in Ontario, has aroused much interest in these
parasitic plants.

Injury: Dodder spreads rapidly from a single plant. It
will destroy quite large patches of clover, giving a field the
appearance of having been burnt in irregular patches. There
is probably no weed legislated against so much as Dodder. It
is a serious pest in southern Europe, parts of tlie United States,
Chili, and other temperate to warm climates having long summer
seasons without frost. During years of shortage in clover
seed crop of Canada, it has frequently been introduced and

Plate 45

CLOVER DODDER

(Cuscura sp )

i

THE BORAGE FAMILY 123

widely distributed in imported seed, but its ravages have
been noted on red clover only in a few instances, and those
in southern Ontario and the Pacific Coast in years following
an exceptionally late fall without frost until October.

Remedy : As soon as the pest is noticed, the infested patches
should at once be mown with a scythe and the refuse removed
and destroyed. Fields badly contaminated should be plowed
before the seed has formed, or the crop cut early for hay and
the land then plowed. Clover seed should never be taken from
fields infested with this pest.

ALLIED SPECIES: Alfalfa Dodder (Cuscuta species)
has given trouble in a few localities in southwestern Ontario,
where it is known to have continued in alfalfa for three years.
This is believed to be a different species and earlier than the one
which commonly gives trouble in red clover. Alfalfa affords
a better opportunity for Dodder to mature its seeds, by which
it continues in the crop from year to year. Alfalfa fields badly
infested should be brought under cultivation. Dodder may
be suppressed in small patches by repeated cutting which
prevents it from seeding.

THE BORAGE FAMILY {Boraginaceae).

The plants of this family are chiefly rough or bristly-hairy
herbs with erect, branching stems, alternate simple leaves,
without any teeth or divisions, and tubular flowers with 5 corolla
lobes and a 5-parted calyx, except in Blue Weed (Echium).
The flowers are usually in 1-sided racemes, which, when young,
are coiled spirally inwards at the tips but unroll and become
nearly straight as the flowers open. The 4 hard 1-seeded or
2-seeded nutlets, which contain the true seed, may be rough
or highly polished, downy or armed with barbed prickles. The
basal scars on the nutlets furnish characteristics useful in identify-
ing the various species in commercial seeds.

124 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

The Borage family contains several weeds, as Hound's
Tongue or Common Bur {Cynoglosswn officinale L.), a leafy,
downy, biennial wayside weed, with reddish purple flowers.
The seeds (Plate 74, fig. 57) are barbed nutlets, obovate,
about 1/4 inch long, the barbs more thinly spread over the flat
and broad upper surface than on the more rounded scar-bearing
surface and on the slight margin. The scar depressed, pear-
shaped, darker than the grayish brown nutlet. These burs
are troublesome in the wool of sheep.

BLUE BUR (Lappula echinata Gilibert)

Other English names: Stickseed, Sheep Bur, Stickweed.

Other Latin names: Myosotis Lappvla L.; Lappula Lappula
(L.) Karst; Echinospermum Lappula hehm.

Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual.
Erect, branching, whole plant covered with short white hairs,
which give it a grayish appearance. Leaves linear-oblong;
root-leaves about 3 inches long, narrowed at base; stem-leaves
stalkless. Flowers small, about 1/8 inch across, pale blue, erect,
in leafy, more or less 1-sided racemes, and with minute bracts.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 58) is about 1/8 inch long, dark brown,
pear-shaped, with a rough surface, inner face sharply angled,
outer face rounded, without spines in the centre but having on
the sides a double series of long stiff spines, each of which has
at its apex a star of 3 or 4 sharp hooks. This nutlet is
often found in clover and other commercial seeds, when many
or all of the long barbed bristles may be rubbed off; but there
is no trouble in recognizing it from the angled inner face, with
the small basal scar at the bottom of the central ridge and the
unarmed area on the outer face.

Time of flowering: From June; seeds ripe July.

Propagation : By seeds.

Plate 46

BLUE- BUROR STICKSB&D
(Lappula echinara <y///MY)

THE BORAGE FAMILY 125

Occurrence: By roadsides and in waste places in eastern
Canada. In the West chiefly in corrals and around buildings
but spreading into cultivated land, where it is sometimes abun-
dant on fields left for summer-fallowing.

Injury: An objectionable weed in waste places, roadsides
and open woodland pastures. Troublesome to sheep on account
of the fleeces becoming matted by the burs. A pernicious weed
in fields of grain sown on stubble lands in the Prairie Provinces-
The plants have a disagreeable odour and are among the few
weeds which sheep refuse to eat, although they have been observed
to nip off the fresh flowers of this and other members of the
same family.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. Badly infested fields should be
summer-fallowed. Thorough spring cultivation with the disc or
broad-shared cultivator or shallow plowing is necessary to prevent
its abundant occurrence in crops sown on stubble lands. Hand-
pull from clover crops. Close cutting when in early bloom will
prevent it from seeding, and, if continued from year to year,
will ultimately suppress it in pastures and waste places. Occasional
plants should be hand-pulled.

ALLIED SPECIES: Virginian Stickseed (Lajrpula virginiana
(L.) Greene) is quite widely distributed in eastern Canada.
It is similar in appearance to common Blue Bur and equally
objectionable.

Banks newly quicksetted, some weeding do craue,

the kindlier nourishment, thereby for to haue:
Then after a shewer, to weeding a snatch,

more easily weed, with the root to dispatch.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Husbandrie, 1557.

Herbs of the colder sort die yearly both in Root and Stalk; as Lettice, Purslane; also
Wheat and all kind of Com: yet there are some cold Herbs which will last three or four
years; as the Violet, Strawberry, Burnet, Primrose, and Sorrel. But Borage and Bugloss,
which seem so alike when they are alive, differ in their deaths; for Borage will last but
one year, Bugloss will last more.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

126 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

BLUE WEED (Echium vulgare L.)

Other English names: Viper's Bugloss, Blue-thistle, Blue
Devil.

Introduced froni Europe. Biennial, with a deep, black, tap-
root. Whole plant bristly hairy, red at the base of the stiff bristles
on the stem. Flowering stems erect and wand-like, forming
compound spikes of reddish buds and bright blue flowers, 1 to
2 feet high; the spikelets curved at the tips, as is usual
in the Borage family. Root-leaves linear-oblong or linear-lance-
shaped, narrowed at base, without teeth or divisions, bristly
hairy above and below, 6 to 8 inches long, the first year forming
dense rosettes of long leaves lying flat on »the ground; leaves
of the flowering stems stalkless. Flowers tubular-funnel form,
not regular, with 5 rounded, spreading lobes; calyx of 5 narrow,
bristly divisions.

The seeds (Plate 74, fig. 60), 4 from each flower, are 1/8 inch
long, dark brown, hard and rough, irregularly angular and
cone-shaped, sharply angled on the inner face and rounded on
the outer, with a keel running from the sharp apex half way
down the outer convex face; basal scar a large, fiat, triangular
surface, acutely margined, marked with two little cone-like pro-
jections and a small, deep hole close to the inner angle.

Time of flowering: July to September; seed ripe by August.

Propagation : By seeds which are spread by dead plants
blown by the wind in winter.

Occurrence: Common by roadsides and in waste places
and fields throughout Ontario and the eastern provinces. Chiefly
on limestone and gravelly or poor soil.

Injury: An abundant, coarse-growing weed, giving trouble
in pasture lands that can not be brought under cultivation and
in crops on land not worked under a regular rotation with
thorough cultivation. In sheep pastures it sometimes causes

Plate 47

BLOE-W&ED OR YIPE-R'S BOQLOSS

( Echium vuigare l.)

THE BORAGE FAMILY 127

the wool to become matted. The seeds are common in clover
and other commercial seeds.

Remedy: Continued close cutting from year to year when
the plant is in early bloom will suppress it in waste places and
pastures. Spudding below the crown of the root will kill it.
The seeds are not long-lived in a moist climate and are not
likely to produce plants after from three to five years. If the
pest is prevented from seeding for three consecutive years,
relatively few plants will require cutting thereafter; probably
none after five years. This biennial will quickly succumb
to a short rotation of crops with fall plowing and thorough
spring cultivation before seeding.

ALLIED SPECIES: Pigeon Weed (Lithospermtim arvense
L.), also called Red Root, Wheat Thief and Field or Com Grom-
well, is abundant in western Ontario and troublesome in fields
of fall wheat. It is a widely branching biennial or winter annual
with white flowers and produces a large number of early-ripening
seeds.

The seed (Plate 74, fig. 59) is similar in size and general
shape to that of Blue Weed, but rather less angular and with a
much smoother surface. Instead of having rough projections,
it is deeply and irregularly grooved, with prominent ridges
between the grooves. It may be easily recognized by the basal
scar, which is oval or obtusely 3 to 5-angled; instead of the
pit at the inner angle and the two cone-shaped projections on
an excavated surface, it has a convex surface with two light-
coloured distinct cones. These seeds are common in poorlj''-
cleaned fall wheat and rye.

Land is best cleaned by a short rotation, including grain
sown in spring instead of autumn. Plants which start growth
in autumn can be destroyed by fall or spring plowing or discing.

The Buglosse groweth in all gardens, and in sandie champion countrj's it

maketh men gladde and merie.

— Parkinson, 1629.

128 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

THE VERVAIN FAMILY (Verbenaceae). .

A family of mostly tropical plants, closely allied to the
mints, represented in Canada by only a few weeds and many
varieties of ornamental plants.

White Vervain (Verbena urticaefolia L.), probably intro-
duced but indigenous in eastern Canada and common along
roadsides, waste places and pasture lands, from New Brunswick
to Ontario. It grows from 3 to 5 feet high, has white flowers
in slender, branching clusters, and stalked, oval, acute leaves,
coarsely dentate with sharp, forward-pointing teeth.

Narrow-leaved Vervain {Verbena angustifolia Michx.) is
abundant on dry limestone soils in Quebec and Ontario. It
is a low perennial with a deep root; roughish, narrowly lance-
shaped leaves tapering at the base, stalkless: flowers in dense
spikes, purple, and larger than those of Blue Vervain.

Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata L.) is the commonest weed
of this family. It is a tall plant, from 4 to 6 feet in rich, moist
soil; stem 4-angled and branched. Leaves stalked, lance-shaped,
taper-pointed, with sharp, forward-pointing teeth. Flowers
violet blue, small, borne in a cluster of spikes at the summit.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 61) is brown except the large, whitish
basal scar at the bottom of the inner face. The outer face is
convex, irregularly ridged lengthwise and sharply angled at the
sides. The inner face slopes to the margin from a sharply-
angled central ridge. This seed is often found in timothy and
other grass seeds.

Vervain is used in casting lots, telling fortunes, and foreshadowing future events by
way of prophesie. Of all Hearbes there is none more honoured among tlie Romans than
the sacred plant Vervaine. It is that hearbe our ambassadors use to carry with them
when they declare war, and to give defiance unto our enemies. With this liearbe the
festivall table of Jupiter Ls wont to be swept and cleaned with great solemnitie, witli it
our houses also be rubbed and halloweed for to drive away ill spirits .... They report
that if the dining roome be sprinkled with water in whicli tiie herbe liath been steeped
the guests will be merrier.

—Pliny, 70.

THE MINT FAMILY 129

THE MINT FAMILY (Labiatae).

This large family contains several weeds, some of them
of common occurrence but none of much importance in agriculture.
The characteristics of the family are well marked and easily
recognized. A noticeable feature is the production of pleasantly
aromatic and oily secretions, as in the case of lavender, mint,
peppermint, sage, thyme, rosemary, bergamot, patchouli, and
many others, which are used in cooking or in the manufacture
of perfumes. No plant in this large family is poisonous.

Salient characteristics of this family are: A square stem,
often downy; a strong scent when bruised; leaves always
opposite and simple; flowers generally clustered in the axils
of the leaves; corolla irregular, more or less mouth-shaped,
with large, wide-open lips, the lower of which is generally much
the larger. The fruit of these plants consists of seed-like nutlets,
generally partly keeled through compression, lying free at the
bottom of the calyx. Few plants of the Mint family are trouble-
some enemies of the farmer on properly worked land, but the
nutlets of some are oiten found in commercial seeds.

Many odde old wives fables are written of vervaine tending to witchcraft and sor-
cery, which you may reade elsewhere, for I am not willing to trouble your eares with
reporting such trifles, as honest eares abhorre to heare.

— John Gerard, 1597.

The Rule is certain. That Plants for want of Culture, degenerate to be baser in the same
kind; and some rimes so far as to change into another kind. 1. The standing long, and
not being removed, maketh them degenerate. 2. Drought, unless the Earth of itself be
moist, doth the like. 3. So doth removing into worse earth, or forebearing to compost
the Earth; as we see, that Water Mint tumeth into Field Mint, and the Coleivort into
Rape by neglect, etc.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625

130 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

HEMP NETTLE (Galeopsis Tetrahit L.)

Other English names: Hemp Dead Nettle, Bee, Dog, Blind
or Stinging Nettle, Nettle-wild or Bastard Hemp.

Introduced from Europe. Annual. Stem erect, tall, swollen
below the joints, rough hairy. Leaves ovate, with strong,
forward-pointing teeth, tapering at the end, on slender foot-
stalks. Flowers purplish, white or variegated, grouped into
nearly stalkless clusters at the axils of the leaves; corolla dilated
at the throat, about twice as long as the calyx; the teeth of the
latter needle-pointed, bristly.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 65) closely resembles that of cul-
tivated hemp, though smaller, about 1/8 inch long. It is broadly
egg-shaped in outline, one surface rounded, the other bluntly
keeled from the round, fiat, depressed scar up to the middle.
The whole seed is grayish brown, wrinkled from unevenly scat-
tered, whitish tubercles.

Time of flowering: July to September; seed ripe in Sep-
tember.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: A common weed around barns and in rich,
damp soil in grain fields in all settled parts of Canada.

Injury : This coarse-growing plant occupies much space
and crowds out crops.

Remedy: Hand-pull whenever practicable. Sow clean
seed and prevent plants from seeding. Close cutting for a few
years will suppress it in waste places, which should be seeded
to permanent grass. Thorough cultivation with short rotation
of crops will eradicate it.

ALLIED SPECIES: Catnip (Nepeta Cataria L.), an intro-
duced perennial, the seeds of which (Plate 75, fig. 62) are often
found in clover seed. They are about 1/16 of an inch long.

THE MINT FAMILY 131

reddish brown, roundly oval, a little flattened on the inner face,
which at one end has a conspicuous basal scar with two well
defined, white, eye-like cavities.

American Dragon Head {Dracocephalum parviflorum Nutt.),
a native annual or biennial, with seeds (Plate 75, fig. 63) much
like those of Hedge Nettle, but longer (1/8-inch) and narrower,
being twice as long as wide, more angular and somewhat winged
and wrinkled along the angles near the apex. The basal scar
is large and curved, with a slit in the middle, giving it the appear-
ance of a mouth ; whole seed dark brown, the outer convex face
distinctly ridged lengthwise and granular-roughened.

Heal-all or Self-heal (Pnmella vulgaris L.), native, perennial
by runners. The seed (Plate 75, fig. 64) is about 1/16 of an
inch long, brown, slightly glazed, longitudinally striped, egg-
shaped, sharp-pointed at the base, which bears a white, heart-
shaped scar with a deep depression in the centre. Commonly
found in timothy and other grass seeds.

Ever^'thing that grows without being sown or planted, among a Crop that has been
sown or planted, is in that Place a Weed. The whole Benefit of the Tillage was intended
for the Crop, and this robs it of a Part.

— Thomas Hale, The Compleat Qody of Husbandry, 1756.

The whole land
Is full of weeds; her fairest flowers choked up.
Her fruit trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd.
Her knots disorder'd, and her wholesome herbs
Swarming with caterpillars.

— Shakespeare, Richard II, Act III, So. iv, 1593.

The Blue Withiwinde hath slender branches and small, by which it climbeth up,
and wrappeth or windeth it selfe about trees or poles. The leaves be large and comer'd,
lyke to the olde leaves of Ivye, sa\-ing that they be not so hard. The flowers are fashioned
like belles, blewe and hollo we, the seed is black, and almost three square, lying in knopp>es
and huskes, after the same manner as the seede of the white Blnde weede.

— Lyte, 1578.

132 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

HEDGE NETTLE (Stachys palustris L.)

Other English names: Woundwort, Clown's Woundwort,
Clown's Heal, Cockhead, Dead Nettle, Rough Weed, Hairy
Mint.

T

Native. Perennial by a tuber-like rootstock producing
many runners. Stem erect, leafy, its edges with coarse, down-
ward-turned hairs. Leaves stalkless, lance-shaped, oblong,
tapering at the apex, rounded at the base, with rounded teeth,
hairy. Flowers pale red or spotted, formed into a long, inter-
rupted spike of 6 to 10 flowered whorls at the axils of leaves;
calyx 1/2 the length of the corolla, bristly hairy, with spiny teeth.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 66) is a dark brown or black nutlet,
about 1/12 of an inch long, egg-shaped, pointed at the base,
which bears a small, shrunken scar. The one side is sharply
keeled from the scar up to 2/3 the length of the seed. Surface
dull, finely wrinkled. Found abundantly among screenings
of western wheat.

Time of flowering : June to September; seeds ripe by July.

Propagation : By seeds and rootstocks.

Occurrence : In moist lands throughout Canada.

Injury: A secondary weed in eastern Canada and northern
Alberta, giving trouble only in moist, low lands in grain fields
and meadows.

Remedy: Good drainage, clean cultivation with short
rotation of crops, will check this weed and enable cultivated
crops to smother it out.

To put a gloss upon their practice, the physicians call an herb (which country people
vulgarly know by the name of dead nettle) archangel; whether they favor more of super-
stition or folly, I leave to the judicious reader. There is more curiosity than courtesy
to my countrymen used by others in the explanation as well as of the names, as des-
cription of this so well known herb. They grow almost everywhere, unless it be in the
middle of the street; it makes the heart merry, drives away melancholy, quickens the spirit.

— Culpepper, 1652.

Plate 49
HEDGE: NETTLE or WOUNDWORT

'Sfachys pahjsfris /.

g

THE FIGWORT FAMILY 133

THE FIGWORT FAMILY (Scrophulwiaceae).

This large family does not contain many weeds. The plants
are remarkably variable in appearance and habits of growth.
The leaves present almost every form. The flowers are usually
in spikes, as the Mulleins, or in panicles, as the rank-smelling
Figworts, occasionally axillary and solitary, as the aromatic
Musk Flower, but never terminal. In no family, except perhaps
the Orchids, are there so many varieties of irregular corollas,
which generally have 4 or 5 divisions, either slightly united
at the base or completely into a tube. The fruit is a 2-celled
capsule, which opens when ripe and allows the numerous seeds
to drop out. The Scrophulariaceae are bitterish plants. Some
contain a narcotic poison, such as the Foxglove (Digitalis).
Among the weeds are the Mulleins (Thapsus); Toad Flax (Linaria
vulgaris Hill.); the Speedwells (Veronica), some species of which
are troublesome on lawns; Glandular Eyebright (Euphrasia
arctica Lange), and Red Bartsia (Odontites rubra Gilib.), intro-
duced, both rather common pasture weeds in Prince Edward
Island; and Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus Crista-galli L.), an annual
weed in low meadows.

The Consideration of Weeds is very essential to the Husbandmen, because scarce
any of his Land escapes from being abundantly infested with them; and none is ever
entirely free They utterly destroy some crops; and they never fail to injure others
in Proportion to their Xumber and Nature.

— Thomas Hale, The Compleat Body of Husbandry, 1756.

And though thejT soyle be not verie frutefull, nor their aier very wholesome, yet
againste the aj-er they so defende them with tempyerate diete, and so order and husbande
their grounde with diligente travaUe, that in no countrey is greater increase, and plenty
of come and catteU, nor mens bodies of longer ly^e, and subject or apte to fewer diseases.

-Sir Thomas More, Utopia, 1515.

134 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

TOAD FLAX (Linaria vulgaris Hill.)

Other English names: Butter and Eggs, Ramsted, Wild
Snapdragon, Flaxweed, Eggs and Bacon, Yellow Toad Flax.

Other Latin names: Linaria Linaria (L.) Karst; Antirrhinum
Linaria L. • ♦

Introduced from Europe. A persistent, deep-rooted peren-
nial. Stem erect, slender, becoming wiry. Hairless, slightly
waxy. Leaves, stalkless, extremely numerous, mostly alter-
nate, linear, without teeth or divisions, acute at both ends.
Flowers nearly an inch long, showy pale yellow with orange
lips, borne in erect dense racemes; the 2-lobed corolla closed
and mouth-like, but, by gentle pressure at the sides, it opens
and closes like the muzzle of an animal.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 67) is about 1/12 of an inch in diameter
— including the wing — dark brown to black, fiat, round or oval,
disc-like, roughened with tubercles and surrounded with a
circular wing, as broad as the seed itself, finely radiate.

Time of flowering: June to September; seeds ripe by August.

. Propagation: By seeds and rootstocks.

Occurrence: Quite common in eastern Canada. Spreading
rapidly, especially in light and shallow soils.

Injury: A persistent weed in waste places, roadsides, meadows
and crops.

Remedy: Short rotation of crops with deep, thorough
cultivation in spring and fall will suppress it. Hand-pulling
when the soil is wet is effective in pasture lands that can not
be cultivated. Badly infested meadows or pasture lands should
be brought under cultivation by plowing in July, summer-
fallowing until autumn, and planting with hoed crop the fol-
lowing spring.

Plate 50

TOADFLAX or BUTTE-R AND EGGS

( Li n a ri a vu I g an s ///// '

THE RIBWORT OR PLANTAIN FAMILY 135

THE RIBWORT or PLANTAIN FAMILY
(Plantaginaceae) .

This family embraces a few species of stemless weeds, with
inconspicuous flowers borne on long, slender spikes at the top
of leafless flowerstalks or ''scapes." The fruit is a capsule,
the upper part of which, when the seeds are ripe, drops off like
the lid of a box. The seeds are not conspicuous by their colour
among grass seeds, and on account of their size and shape they
are difficult to separate from them. This renders a knowledge
of the appearance of the common kinds very important. The
seeds of plantains may be roughly separated into two groups,
according to their shape; in one division, the seeds are irregularly
angular, like small grains of gunpowder, e.g., Common
Plantain and Pale Plantain; in the other, they are boat-
shaped, hollow on one side and rounded on the other, e.g.,
Narrow -leaved Plantain or Rib -grass and Bracted Plan-
tain. When moistened, all these seeds develop a coat of mucilage,
by means of which their distribution is much facilitated.

The maiweed doth burne, aad the thistle doth freat,

the fitches pull downward, both rie and the wheat:

The brake and the cockle, be noisome too much,
yet like unto boddle, no weed there is such.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointea of Hu^tandrie, 1557.

All Plants that do draw much nourishment from the Earth, and so soak the Earth,
and exhaust it, hurt all things that grow by them; .... So the Colewort is not an enemy
(though that were anciently received) to the Vine onely; but it is an enemy to any
other Plant, because it draweth strongly the fattest Juyce of the Earth. And if it be
true, that the Vine, when it creepeth near the Colewort, will turn way: This may be,
because there it findeth worse nourishment; for though the Root be where it was, yet
(I doubt) the Plant will bend as it nourisheth. Where Plants are of several Natures,
and draw several Juyces out of the Earth, there (as hath been said) the one set by the
other helpeth: As it is set down by divers of the Ancients, that Rew doth prosper much,
and becometh stronger, if it be set by a Fig-tree: Which (we conceive) is caused not
by reason of Friendship, but by Extraction of a contrarj' Juyce; the one drawing Juyce
fit to result sweet, the other bitter. So they have set down likewise, that a Rose set
by Garlike is sweeter which likewise may be, because the more Fetide Juyce of the Earth
goeth into the Garlick, and the more oderate into the Rose.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1652.

136 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

COMMON PLANTAIN (Plantago major L.)

Other English names: Broad-leaf Plantain, Greater Plantain,
Dooryard Plantain, Birdseed Plantain.

Introduced and native. Perennial. Rootstock short and
thick, bearing many thick-spreading roots and a large tuft of
dark green, oval, long-stalked, coarsely-toothed, spreading or up-
ward curving leaves, strongly nerved underneath, and several
dense spikes (3 to 12 inches long) of inconspicuous flowers with
purple stamens. Seed capsules oval, dividing about the middle.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 68) is about 1/20 of an inch long,
greenish-brown, variable in size and shape according to the
number in the capsule (which varies from 8 to 16), rounded on
the outer face, angular on the inner scar-bearing face; scar pale
and conspicuous. The surface of the seed is finely netted with
dark brown broken waved lines, which radiate from the scar.

Time of flowering: May, throughout the summer; seed ripe
by July.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence: Throughout the Dominion, generally in rich,
moist soil. In various forms, some of which may be distinct
species, as indicated by the difference in habit of growth and
the degree of hairyness.

Injury: A persistent, succulent weed, usually abundant in
fields and gardens in low, rich soils and well able to compete
with most cultivated crops or natural grasses. Especially
objectionable in lawns. Its seeds are common in grass and
clover seeds.

Remedy: Hoed crops every four years will keep this weed
in check. Working with a broad-shared cultivator, followed
by a harrow, to drag the plants with their fibrous roots to the
surface, is recommended for spring cultivation. Plantain in

Plate 51

COMMON PLANTAIN
(Planl-ago majors.)

THE RIBWORT OR PLANTAIN FAMILY 137

iawns may be weeded out when the soil is firm by forcing a small
implement like a chisel, with a half-round blade having a point
like the tip of a spoon, between the soil and the fleshy crown
of the weed to a depth sufficient to break the plant away from
its fibrous roots without disfiguring the turf. A teaspoonful of
salt applied to the crown of small plants in hot dry weather
will kill them without seriously injuring the grass.

ALLIED SPECIES: Pale Plantain (Plantago Rugelii Dene.)
often occurs with Common Plantain. It is a rather larger plant
with more erect, smooth leaves, of a paler or yellowish green,
the leaf-stalks purple at the base. The spikes are longer and
the flowers less crowded, the capsules more pointed, 4 to 9-seeded,
opening below the middle.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 69) is of the same angular shape
as that of the Common Plantain, but about twice as large and
nearly black, with the surface merely roughened, not lined and
netted. It is common in timothy and alsike seed.

Romeo. — Your plantain leaf is excellent for that,
©envolio. — For what, I pray thee?
Romeo. — For your broken shin.

— Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Sc. ii, 1591.

For the knowledge of herbes, trees, and shrubbes is not onelye very delectable for
a Princes minde but profitable for all the bodies of the Princes hole realme both to pre-
serve men from sickness, sorrowe, and pajme that cometh thereby.

—William Turner, Herbal, 1568.

It is needless to go about to compute the value of the damage weeds do, since all
experienced husbandmen know it to be very great, and would unanimously agree to ex-
tirpate their whole race as entirely as in England they have done the wolves, though
much more innocent and less rapacious than weeds.

— Jethro Tull, The Horse Hoeing Husbandry, 1731.

138 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

RIBGRASS (Plantago lanceolata L.)

Other English names: Buckhorn, English Plantain, Ribwort.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial or biennial. Root-
stock short. Leaves numerous, 2 to 12 inches long, narrowly
lance-shaped and distinctly 3 to 5-ribbed, hairy, with tufts
of brownish hair at the base. In the first year the leaves lie
close to the ground, forming a dense rosette; on old plants
they are erect. Flower stalks stiff, slender and grooved, 1 to
2 feet, much taller than the leaves. Flower heads at first ovoid
and rather showy by reason of their numerous yellow stamens,
elongating with age and forming dense, cjdindrical, black spikes
of seed, from 1 to 4 inches long. Capsules oblong, obtuse, 2-
seeded, opening about the middle.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 70) is about 1/10 inch long, chestnut
brown, minutely granular-roughened but highly polished, boat-
shaped with rounded ends, the outer face rounded with the
edges folded inward around a deep, longitudinal groove, in the
centre of which lies the dark-coloured scar which sometimes has
a pale ring of dried mucilage around it.

Time of flowering: Throughout the summer; seed ripe by
July.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Throughout Canada; most abundant in clover
crops.

Injury: In Europe, Ribgrass is considered a valuable forage
plant for some soils; its seed is an article of commerce and largely
used in mixtures for pasture lands. In Canada it is an injurious
weed in clover and meadows for hay or seed crop. The seeds are
very common in red clover seed.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. In common with other species
of plantain, this weed is easily suppressed by hoed crop and
short rotation. It is prevalent almost exclusively in clover

Plate 52

BOCKHORN, RIB GRASS or ENGLISH PLANTAIN

(Planrago lanceolara a.)

THE RIBWORT OR PLANTAIN FAMILY 139

crops, in which it increases rapidly by the distribution of its
seeds with commercial clover seed, the market value of which
is depreciated by this impurity. Farmers who use only first
quality red clover seed and who pull the first plants of this weed
that occur in their clover seed crop will soon rid their farms
of this pest. Special cleaning apparatus is required to separate
the seed from red clover seed. Farmers may separate small
quantities by spreading the clover seed on dump canvas; the
plantain seeds will quickly gum themselves to the cloth and the
clover seeds will drop off when the canvas is inverted.

ALLIED SPECIES: Hoary Plantain (Plantago media L.).
This plant is much less frequently seen than Ribgrass but it has
the same wide range, as the seed is distributed with grass seed.
It is deep-rooted and more difficult to eradicate from lawns
than the other species here mentioned. Leaves ovate, thickly
covered with white hairs, short-stalked and always lying close
to the ground in a dense rosette. The flower stalks are slender,
about 1 foot high. Flower heads showy by reason of their
purple and white stamens, at first oval, gradually elongating
to cylindrical spikes 1 to 3 inches long. Flowers pleasantly
fragrant. Capsules oblong, 2 to 3-seeded.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 72) is of the boat-shaped class,
about the same size as that of Ribgrass but thinner and flatter,
often somewhat twisted, with the edges not so roundly turned
in around the groove which bears the scar. It shows an indistinct,
shallow groove or constriction across the outer face just below
the middle, indicating the part of the seed which fitted into
the top of the capsule.

Hoary Plantain is intermediate in appearance between
Common Plantain and Ribgrass, and its seeds are intermediate
between those of Ribgrass and of Bracted Plantain.

Bracted Plantain (Plantago aristata Michx.). A western
annual which is rather rare in Canada, although its seeds are
not uncommon in grass and clover seeds. The whole plant
is downy; leaves narrow, linear, grass-like; flower stalks erect,

140 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

bearing thick, cylindrical spikes 1 to 4 inches long, with con-
spicuous, pointed, bracts. Capsules 2-seeded.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 71) is boat-shaped, of the same
size and form as that of Ribgrass but slightly wider, with sharper
edges to the margin of the inner face. The elongated scar
consists of 2 small, shallow pits lying close together in the centre
of the inner excavated face, the whole of which is whitened by
a coat of dried mucilage. The rounded outer face has a distinct
shallow groove crossing it just below the middle. This groove
and the two pits of the scar are the best characteristics for
distinguishing this seed.

THE MADDER or BEDSTRAW FAMILY

(Ruhiaceae) .

This is a large family which shows great variations in habits
of growth and in appearance. The most important members
are tropical, such as the coffee. The plants are herbaceous or
woody, with opposite or whorled leaves, flowers bearing both
stamens and pistils and various fruits.

The seeds of the following weeds are found in commercial
seeds : —

Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis L.). A slender, prostrate,
square-stemmed plant, with lance-shaped leaves in whorls of
4-6, and small pink or blue flowers. The seed is ash-gray from
fine appressed hairs, eggshaped, not quite 1/8 of an inch long,
crowned with 3 dry, persistent calyx teeth.

Northern Bedstraw (Galium horeale L.), the most common
of the bedstraws or cleavers. A native perennial, with square
stem, linear, lance-shaped leaves in whorls of 4, and compact
panicles of bright white flowers.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 73) is a good representation of
the seed of the genus Galium, only it is much smaller than some

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 141

of the other species; from 1/20 to 1/10 of an inch in diameter,
nearly round, somewhat flattened on the side bearing the scar.
The whole seed, except the depression in the scar, is covered
with prickly hairs, giving it a grayish colour. The scar surface
is brown, rugose. The hairs are sometimes broken off by thresh-
ing and cleaning the seed.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY (Compositae).

This, the largest family of flowering plants, includes ten
to twelve thousand species and is represented in all parts of the
world by economic, medicinal and ornamental plants, and by
some poisonous and weed pests. The characteristics of the
familj^ are well marked. The roots and rootstocks contain
a chemical principle, inulin, which is poisonous and gives to
many plants their medicinal properties. The flowers of all
are composite; that is, composed of many small flowers or florets
standing together on expanded enlargements, known as re-
ceptacles, at the ends of the stalks. Individually, these flower
heads, or collections of many florets, have the appearance of
simple flowers and are popularly so spoken of; as, for instance,
the flower of a sunflower, a daisy or a dandelion, while in reality
each one is a large number of flowers grouped together at the
end of a common footstalk, and what appears to be a calyx
is a cluster of small bracts. A striking characteristic of this
family is that the stajnens are united at their edges into a vertical
tube with the pistil inside. The calyx of the florets, when present,
is modified in fruit into a ring of silky bristles, awns, teeth
or scales, which is called the pappus. The florets of composite
flowers are of two kinds, both of which may sometimes be seen
in the same flower head, as in Common Sunflower. The
marginal or ray flowers are strap-shaped, and the smaller centre
or disc flowers are tubular. When the flower head has ray
flowers, either throughout or round the edge, it is termed radiate;

142

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

when there are no ray flowers it is said to be discoid. The
true seed is enclosed in a hard, dry shell, like a small nut, botanic-
ally called an achene. There are often two forms of seeds on
the same flower; the centre ones are generally straighter, narrower
and more or less angled through compression.

The members of this large family are divided into two
series, according to the nature of the corolla. In the first series,
the Tube-flowered Composites (Tuhuliflorae), the corolla is tubular
and regularly 5-lobed in all the flowers which bear stamens and '
pistils, and strap-shaped only in the marginal or ray flowers. In
the second series, the Strap-flowered Composites (Liguliflorae) ,
the corolla is strap-shaped in all the flowers of the head. To this
series, also known as the Chicory family (Cichoriaceae) , the
Chicory and many other plants with similar flowers belong,
including numerous well known weeds, such as the dandelions,
sow thistles, lettuces and hawkweeds. The great majority of
the weeds in this family belong to the first series, the Tube-
flowered Composites. Such a large number of plants are grouped
under this series that it becomes necessary to subdivide them
into tribes.

TRIBE VERNONIEAE

Ironweeds (Vernonia species) are common perennial weeds
along roadsides and low, permanent grass lands in the southern
part of the eastern provinces. They are tall plants with long
leaves and red-purple flowers heads. They may be kept in
check by continued close cutting or easily destroj^ed by cultiva-
tion on lands that can be brought under the plow.

TRIBE EUPATORIEAE

Joe-Pye Weed (Ewpatoriuvi purpureum L.) grows from 4
to 8 feet high, without branches, 3 to 6 large smooth leaves,
growing in whorls at the joints, and with large clusters of pale
pink to whitish flowers. Common in low meadows and pastures
throughout Canada. It is easily destroyed by shallow cultivation.

THE SUNFLOWEK FAMILY 143

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum L.) is low in habit of growth;
stem hairy, leaves lance-shaped and united at the base around
the stem; flowers white. Common in moist, permanent grass
lands in eastern Canada. Said to be of medicinal value.

White Snakeroot (Eupatorium urticaefolium Riechard) is
quite common in damp, woodland pastures in Ontario and
eastward. Characterized by its large clusters of showy white
flower heads and long-stalked opposite leaves. This plant is
distinctly poisonous and is believed to be injurious to stock.

TRIBE ASTEREAE

Gumweed or Gum Plant (Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal.)
is a coarse biennial with golden-yellow flowers, the buds of
which, just before opening, have a large drop of liquid resin on
them. While it is seldom troublesome in crops, it frequently
grows along trails and is supposed to cause hay fever.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 74) has been found among wheat
screenings and in clover seeds and is sometimes mistaken for
the seed of Canada Thistle. It is, however, plumper, much
more flattened and more angular, roughly grooved lengthwise,
paler and duller in colour.

The Sunflower is the golden flower of Peru, or the Flower of the Sunne. This goodly
and stately plant, wherewith everyone is now adayes familiar, being of many sorts both
higher and lower, riseth up at first like unto a Pompion with two leaves, and after two
it riseth up into a great stalke, bearing the leaves on it severall distances on all sides
thereof, one above another unto the verj' topjje, being sometimes, and in some places,
seven, eight, or ten foote high. . . . At the top of the stalke standeth one great, large and
broad, flower, bowing down the head unto the sunne, and breaking forth from a great
head, made of scaly greene leaves, like unto a great single Marigold, ha\-ing a border of
manie long yellow leaves, set about a great round yellow thrunune as it were in the middle,
which are very like unto short heads of flowers, under every one there is a seede, larger
than any seede of the Thistles, yet somewhat like, and lesser, and rounder than any
Gourde seede, set in so close and curious a manner, that when the seede is taken out,
the head with the hollow places or eels thereof, seemeth very like unto a honey combe.

— Parkinson, 1629.

144

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

NARROW-LEAVED GOLDENROD (Solidago graminifolia
(L.) Salisb.).

Other English names :
Yellow Weed.

Bushy or Fragrant Goldenrod,

Other Latin names: Euthamia graminifolia (L.) Nutt.,
Chrysocoma graminifolia L., Solidago lanceolata L.

Native. Perennial by running rootstocks. Stems erect,
branching above into cymes, 2 to 3 feet high, almost smooth.
Leaves numerous, linear-lance-shaped, 1 to 5 inches long, the
edges rough-hairy. Separate heads of flowers about 1/4 inch
across, bright golden-yellow, in dense, flat-topped clusters.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 75) is small, white, about 1/12 of
an inch long, ovate-oblong, nearly cylindrical, slightly tapering,
many ribbed, downy. The pappus is white, consisting of a
single row of rough bristles, about twice the length of the seed.

Time of flowering: July to September; seeds ripe in Sep-
tember.

Propagation: By seeds blown by the wind and by long
running rootstocks forming new plants at the tips, which, if
left undisturbed, soon form large patches.

Occurrence : In low land throughout the Dominion.

Injury: This and many other species of the goldenrods
are objectionable in meadows on damp soils, as marsh lands
and river bottoms, that are not well suited for general cultivation
and rotation of crops. These weeds are unpalatable to stock
and their presence in hay entails much waste.

Remedy: To prevent them from spreading, occasional weeds
in the meadow may be destroyed by the application of a handful
of salt after cutting. Badly infested land that is wet until late
in the spring should be shallow-plowed and thoroughly cultivated
as soon as the hay crop is removed. These perennial pests can

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 146

be suppressed by repeated cultivation between the middle of
July and the middle of September, when the land may be seeded
to winter rye with a liberal application of thoroughly clean grass
seed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Several other goldenrods are rather
troublesome free-growing perennials; among them are:

Tall Hairy Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa Mill.), with long
hairs, crowded leaves and a broad, pyramidal panicle.

Tall or Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis L.) and
varieties, with a slender stem, hairless at the base, and thin,
narrow-lance-shaped leaves.

Smooth Goldenrod (Solidago serotina Ait.), with stout,
smooth stems, leaves smooth on both sides.

All these showy, autumn-flowering plants are wayside
and grass-land weeds and do not give trouble on fields under
regular cultivation.

The true Asters, of which about 70 species are native to our
country, very seldom become aggressive weeds.

As for the Sow-Thistle, the chief and onely Annoyance of all Thistles (as for other
Thistles I scarce know how to rank them among those grand Corrupters, because the
opinion of most men are, that they are most certain symptons of* good land as usually
they are; so are Nettles, Hemlocks, Mallowes, etc.), and yet I had rather they were all
destroyed than remain upon my lands (but because they are of lesse offence, and we have
greater Prejuideces than these, lie let them passe); but for the Sow-Thistle it is of so great
offence that it destroys all the grasse it covers, which is many times a foot round, and
also so easie to be destroyed that I shall put the Grazier or farmer upon no other charge
or trouble, but onely to take a little Paddle staffe, as a Walking-staffe, and give each one
a chop at the Root as he passeth by them, which will be rather a Recreation to an active
man, than a Burthen, and thus every day a few as they grow in bignesse, will in a few
days destroy them all; Or else a Shepheard, or Keeper of the Ground, as he walks among
his Cat tell may easily keep them under, as he goes about his daily businesse; But since
I have found out a more certain way which wiU destroy them at one spudding up, which
being done as soon as the Thistle begins to spread, but they must be done as it were up,
by, or under the root, which lyeth very overly, and if it be not cut at first chop, it may
at next by the Root; I had the last yeare a field of an hundred Acres so thick over-runne,
that some acres were as thick that one man could not do above halfe an Acre in a day
I caused them to be spudded up by the root, which was done at two chops by my Spade,
I was not onely freed of them the last Summer wholly, but my whole ground is Cleansed
of them for this yeare, and so I hope for ever. I beleeve the chaise thereof was neare
twenty shillings, or there about. A more certaine way I know not.

^Walter Blith, The En^ish Improver Improved, or The System of Husbandry Sttrveyed,1652.

146

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

COMMON FLEABANE (Erigeron canadensis L.)

Other English names: Horseweed, Fireweed, Butterweed,
Prideweed, Blood-staunch, Coris, Colt's- or Mare's-tail, Bitter-
weed.

Other Latin name: Leptilon Canadense (L.) Britton.

Native. Annual. Sometimes very tall and much branched,
with wand-like stems; generally bristly hairy. Leaves without
teeth or divisions, linear, the basal ones dentate. The numerous,
small, white flower heads form a panicle.

The seed closely resembles those of the goldenrods and is
practically indistinguishable from them and from some varieties
of asters. It is yellowish, flattened, 2-nerved, often slightly
curved.

Time of flowering: July to October; seeds ripe August to
October.

Propagation: By seeds carried with the wind. Seed-pro-
ducing plants are of all sizes, up to 6 or 7 feet high. An
average plant produces about 120,000 seeds.

Occurrence: General in fields and waste places. A native
of North America, except the extreme north. Spread from
America to Europe and common in South America. It is most
abundant in moist grounds and pastures, but is found in meadow
land and even cultivated fields.

Injury: Its seeds are found in poorly cleaned grass seed. An
objectionable weed in meadows.

Remedy: Any method of cultivation which prevents it
going to seed is effective. A short rotation with clover and a
hoe crop or a bare fallow will easily kill it. Waste places should
be watched and the weeds cut before they develop seed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus (L.)
Pers.) has coarsely-toothed leaves.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 147

Rough Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron ramosus (Walt.) B.S.P.)
has leaves, without teeth or divisions.

Both are common clover field weeds in all parts of eastern
Canada. The seeds are small and are carried in grass seeds.

TRIBE INULEAE

This tribe of the Sunflower family contains a few of the
plants commonly known as Everlastings, which are weeds of
secondary importance. Such are the True Everlastings, or
Cat's-foot (genera Antennaria and xinaphalu) and the Cut-
weeds (genus Gnaphalivm). Most of them are perennial, low
plants of a characteristic woolly appearance, with numerous
dry, chaffy, mostly white or inconspicuous flower heads. The
seeds are generally very small.

Elecampane {Inula Helenium L.), also called Horsehead^
is a stout perennial with a thick, mucilaginous root; introduced
from Europe. The leaves are large, rough above, woolly beneath,
the upper ones stalkless, clasping the stem.

The flower heads are yellowish, with many rays. The seed
is about 1/5 of an inch long, olive brown, 4-angled, with a long,
spreading pappus.

EHecampane, the beauteous Helen's flower.
Mingles among the rest her silver store.

— Rapin, 1650.

Some think it took the name from the teares of Hden, from whence it sprang, which
is a fable; others that she had her hands fuU of this herbe when Paris carried her away;
others say that it was so called because Helen first found it available against the bitings
and stingings of venomous beasts; and others ^thinke that it tooke the name from the
Island Helena, where the best was found to grow.

— Parkinson, 1629.

148 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

TRIBE HELIANTHEAE

POVERTY WEED {Iva axillaris Pursh.)

Other English name : Small-flowered Marsh-elder,
Native. Perennial. Whole plant with a rank odour.
Stems herbaceous, branching, nearly erect, from tough, woody,
extensive rootstocks, 6 to 12 inches high, very leafy. Leaves
thick, obovate to linear-oblong, without teeth or divisions,
rough-hairy; the lower ones opposite, the upper alternate.
Flower heads drooping, solitary, on short footstalks, from the
axils of the upper leaves, 1/6 of an inch across, inconspicuous.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 77) is 1/8 of an inch long; colour
variable, olive-green, yellowish-brown to almost black; surface
mealy and dull; pear-shaped, slightly flattened, sometimes
keeled on the side and a little curved toward the base. There
are seldom more than one or two seeds in each flower head,
and many heads have none.

Time of flowering: June to August; seeds ripe July to
September.

Propagation: Mainly by the extensive underground stems,
which send up many flowering, leafy shoots.

Occurrence: In grain fields and pastures from Manitoba
to the interior of British Columbia, thriving in all soils but
occurring generally on land where there is some alkali. The seed
of Poverty Weed seldom occurs in grain or grass seeds.

Injury: A persistent perennial, forming large patches.
Exhaustive of moisture, thus starving crops and rendering the
land hard to work.

Remedy: This is a difficult enemy to dislodge when well
established on the rich soils of the West. It requires well directed,
persistent effort, with sharp implements. Plowing for summer-
fallow should be clean and deep, followed by frequent cultivation
with a broad-shared cultivator.

Plate 55

POVERTY WEED

(Iva axillaris pur^it, )

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 149

ALLIED SPECIES: False Ragweed (Iva xanthifoUa Nutt.),
a coarse annual which grows to a height of 6 to 8 feet and produces
an enormous quantity of seed. Before flowering it has a remark-
able superficial resemblance to Great Ragweed, having the
same habit of growth and leaf outline; but it can be recognized
at once by the stem, which is perfectly smooth, while in Great
Ragweed both the stems and the leaves are noticeably rough;
when full grown, the resemblance between the two plants dis-
appears. False Ragweed bears a large, loose panicle of dark-
coloured flowers at the top of the stem, while Great Ragweed
has a long, rat-tail-like spike of male flowers at the tip of each
branch.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 76) is of the same general shape
as that of Poverty Weed, but is only 1/10 of an inch long, more
tapering and finer, somewhat darker in colour, the surface
finely striated lengthwise. When fresh it has a gray, mealy
covering, which partially rubs off and gives it a mottled appear-
ance. It is ocassionally found among grain, grass and alfalfa
seed of western production.

False Ragweed is quite common in parts of the West,
occuring principally in rich land around farm buildings and
waste places. It does not often give trouble in cultivated fields,
and can be kept in check by repeated cutting to prevent seeding.

The seeds of some weeds, particularly the different species of the thistle, are car-
ried to a considerable distance by the wind; and where any earth is grown up in siich
a manner as to intangle them, as at the root of a hedge, or side of a ditch, there they appear
in great plenty. It is surprising, that many farmers allow them to grow there undis-
turbed: the consequence of which is, that their seeds are carried in great plenty into the
adjacent fields, and thereby great damage is done; which might have been prevented
by cutting them down, at a small expense, before their seeds were ripened.

— Adam Dickson, A Treatise on Agriculture, 1785.

150 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

GREAT RAGWEED {Ambrosia trifida L.)

Other English names : Tall Ragweed, Crown weed, Kingweed,
Bitterweed.

Native. Annual. A tall, coarse-branching plant, 4 to 8
feet high, with rough stems and leaves. Leaves pale green,
opposite, on long, margined footstalks, variable in shape, on
young plants deeply indented but scarcely lobed; as the stems
grow, 3 or even 5-lobed leaves are produced, but on many plants
leaves may be found without lobes. The male and female
flowers are borne in different heads on the same plant; the
male in long, slender spikes at the ends of the branches, and the
female 2 or 3 together, stalkless, in the axils of the leaves at the
base of the spikes. Male flowers 1/4 inch across, cup-shaped,
nodding; stamens yellow and conspicuous. Female flowers
inconspicuous; pistils slender and purplish.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 78) is about 1/4 inch long, brown,
urn-shaped, tipped with a tapering beak and bearing around
the base of this, about 1/3 from the top, 6 or 8 blunt spines, like
the points of a crown, which are the ends of more or less distinct
ribs. This crown-like appearance of the top of the seed has
suggested the names Kingweed and Crownweed, sometimes
used by millers.

Time of flowering : July, seed ripe by the beginning of August.

Propagation : By seeds, which are distributed in grain and
carried by water. Wheat from some districts of the West often
contains considerable quantities of Great Ragweed seed.

Occurrence: Ontario and occasional in other eastern prov-
inces. Abundant in the rich Red River Valley in Manitoba
and extending westward mostly along the railways.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 151

Injury: This coarse annual crowds and starves grain grow-
ing near it, but the chief loss to farmers is due to the difficulty
millers experience in separating the seed from grain, owing to
its similarity to wheat in size and weight. The spines catch
in the meshes of the screens and give trouble in cleaning.

Remedy: This is one of the few weeds in Manitoba for
which hand-pulling is practicable. As a rule, the plants are
conspicuous and grow near the edges of the fields. The labour
required in pulling this weed before the seed is ripe is more than
repaid by the increased value of the grain harvested. Special
attention should be given to fields along streams that are liable
to be flooded. A mowing machine should be used around the
edges of infested fields before the seed is ripe.

This is true, that where Kine feed upon Wilde Garlick, their Milk tasteth plainly
of the Garlick. And the Flesh of Muttons is better tasted where the Sheep feed upon
Wilde Thime, and other wholesome Herbs.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds.

— Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI, Act IV, Sc. iv, 1592.

There are many ancient and received Traditions and Observations, touching the
Sympathy and Antipathy of Plants; for that some will thrive best growing near others,
which they impute to Sympathy; and some worse, which they impute to Antipathy.
But these are idle and ignorant conceits, and forsake the true indication of the causes;
as the most part of Experiments, that concern Sympathies and Antipathies do. For as
to Plants, neither is there any such secret Friendship, or Hatred, as they imagine. And
if we should be content to call it Sympathy and Antipathy, it is utterly mistaken; for
their Sympathy is an Antipathy, and their Antipathy is a Sympathy: For it is thus,
wheresoever one Plant draweth such a particular Juyce out of the Earth, as it qualifieth
the Earth, so as that Juyce which remaineth is fit for the other Plant, there the Neighbor-
hood doth good, because the nourishments are contrary, or several: But where two
Plants draw (much) the same Juyce, there the Neighborhood hurteth; for the one deceiveth
the other.

— Bacon, Natvral History, 1625.

152 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

COMMON RAGWEED (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.)

Other English names: Roman Wormwood, Smaller Ragweed,
Hog weed.

Native. Annual. A coarse, branching plant with hairy
stems, 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves thin, smooth above, grayish
white beneath from short, downy hairs, much cut up, pinnatifid,
twice divided. Flowers closely resemble those of Great
Ragweed but are smaller. * Occasional plants bear only
female flowers.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 79) is from 1/12 to 1/6 of an inch
long, dull, light straw to dark brown, somewhat pear-shaped,
the apex long and tapering to a sharp point. The surface is
veined and slightly ridged lengthwise. This ridge usually termin-
ates in sharp teeth, which form a circle around and point toward
the apex. These teeth vary in number, size and regularity and
are sometimes entirely absent. The outer covering of the seed
is brittle and may be more or less broken away, thus revealing
a smooth, brown, inner cover. The breaking off of this second
coat shows the inside seed, which is greenish- white, nearly round
and slightly pointed at the base. Ragweed seed appears in red
clover under these different forms, sometimes in large quantities,
and can be separated only with much difficulty.

Time of flowering: July; seed ripe in August.

Propagation : By seeds, carried in the seeds of grain, clovers
and grasses.

Occurrence: In rich land and w^aste places throughout
eastern Canada and in the Prairie Provinces. Exceedingly
prevalent in southwestern Ontario.

Injury: This weed has a detestable odour and flavour and
is disliked by cattle in pasture or hay; its presence results in
considerable waste of fodder or forage. Where it is abundant
it will taint milk. It is a vigorous plant, occupies much space,
and thus reduces the crop yield.

Remedy: Sow clean red clover seed. Stubble lands where
this weed is prevalent should be shallow-plowed directly after

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 153

harvest, or, if seeded, the autumn growth should be closely
cut with a mowing machine within two weeks after the grain
crop is cut. Hoed crops require attention with the hoe occasion-
ally after general cultivation is discontinued. Lands badly
infested should be put under a three-year rotation of crops,
with prompt and thorough cultivation or mowing in early autumn
after the crop has been removed.

ALLIED SPECIES: Perennial Ragweed {Ambrosia psilost-
achya DC.) is a western plant found on the prairies, resembling
Common Ragweed in the shape of the leaves and flowers
but with running perennial rootstocks, which throw up at inter-
vals weak stems, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves finely downy. The
seed closely resembles that of the above, but as a rule is more
regularly oval.

This ragweed is seldom troublesome in Canada, either on
farms or from the presence of the seeds among crop seeds. With
the more extensive cultivation of grasses and alfalfa for seed
in the West, it will require more attention.

Cockleburs or Clotburs (Xanthivm) are tall, coarse,
much-branched annuals. The leaves are heart-shaped or ovate,
except in Spring Clotbur (Xanthiuvi spinosum L.), which
has lance-shaped or ovate-lance-shaped leaves, tapering at
both ends. As in the ragweeds, spikes of male flowers are borne
above with numerous clusters of female flowers below them.

The 2-celled "fruits," commonly called "burs," are from
1 to 1^ inches long, hard and leathery, armed with beaks (except
in Spring Clotbur) and covered with more or less long, thick,
hairy, recurved and crowded prickles. Each bur contains 2
oblong, flat seeds which retain their vitality for several years.

Some species are abundant as weeds in river bottoms and
moist soils throughout the Prairie Provinces, and are particularly
troublesome to stockmen in parts of Alberta. Other species
are plentiful in the eastern provinces and are frequently reported
as a nuisance in sheep pastures.

These coarse, annual weeds should be destroyed by hand-
pulling, continued from year to year.

154 FAEM WEEDS OF CANADA

CONE FLOWER {Rudheckia hirta L.)

Other English names: Black-eyed Susan, Yellow Daisy,
Orange Daisy, Nigger Head, Golden Jerusalem; sometimes
miscalled Ox-eye Daisy.

Native. Biennial. Coarse, rough, hairy throughout. Stem
simple, sometimes branched below. Leaves thick, without
teeth or divisions, the upper ones oblong-lance-shaped, stalkless,
the lower ones broader at the top, tapering towards the base,
on footstalks. The mode of flowering is by showy, terminal,
usually solitary heads, glaring golden-orange, about the size of
those of Ox-eye Daisy. Rays 10 to 20, much longer than the
hairy scaly bracts around the flower head. The dark brown
centre, with its chaft'y scales hairy at the top, is high, cone-shaped,
and often becomes column-shaped in fruit.

The seed (Plate 75, fig. 80) is about 1/12 of an inch long,
black, 4-angled, narrow, with parallel sides; each side with fine,
parallel longitudinal lines. The top of the seed is flat and bears
no pappus.

Time of flowering: June to August; seed ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: In prairie and pasture lands, old meadows
and occasionally in cultivated fields. Abundant in Quebec,
where it has doubtless been introduced from western Canada.

Injury: Objectionable in pastures to all kinds of live stock
except sheep, which eat it when their pasture is short. When
prevalent in meadows it materially reduces the yield and quality
of hay. The seeds are frequently present in grass seed.

Remedy: Continued cutting for a few years, to prevent
the plant from seeding, will suppress it. The seeds are relatively
short-lived. Old meadows should be' cut early or brought under
cultivation for a few years. Sheep in sufficient numbers will
suppress this weed in pasture lands.

ALLIED SPECIES: Some Wild Sunflowers are notice-
able weeds in the Prairie Provinces. In Manitoba Black-

Plate 58

YELLOW DAISY OR BLACK-EY&D SOSAN

(Rudbeckia birra a)

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 165

headed Sunflower (Helianthus scaberrimus Ell.) and Many-
flowered Prairie Sunflower {Helianthus Maximiliani Schrad.)
are the most abundant, but Wild Artichoke (Helianthus
doronicoides Lam.) is the most difficult to eradicate; for all
these, early summer-fallowing is the best method.

The seeds are often found among western grain. The
seed of Many-flowered Prairie Sunflower (Plate 75, fig. 81) is about
1/6 of an inch long, brown, variable in shape but mostly narrowly
oblong, egg-shaped in outline, flattened and rather angular,
grooved lertgthwise, cross-mottled with irregular, zigzag, white
lines; both scars, at the top and the base, are conspicuous,
the latter rather oblique.

The Bur Marigolds or Beggar-ticks (genus Bidens) are mostly
swamp and wet meadow plants. One of them. Common
Beggar-tick or Pitch-forks (Bidens frondosa L.) is a native weed
of general distribution. It is a tall, branching annual, with
3 to 5 divided leaves and yellow flowers. The seed is enclosed
in a flat, wedge-shaped fruit, often roughened with tubercles,
olive brown, about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch long, provided with
2 awns, 1/2 as long as the fruit itself, downwardly barbed.

Close cutting from year to year when the plant is in early
bloom will keep this weed in check by preventing the production
of seed.

TRIBE HELENIEAE

The only member of this tribe that is recognized as a weed
is Sneezeweed, False Sunflower or Yellow Star (Helenimn
autumnale L.), a native perennial found in moist soils, much
resembling some species of sunflowers. The whole plant is
aromatic, resinous. The leaves are firm, oblong-lance-shaped,
generally toothed, wing-like, and extend down the stem. The
bright yellow rays are 3-cleft.

The seed is about 1/12 of an inch long, angled, ribbed,
hairy on the angles. The pappus consists of chaffy scales running
into bristles.

156 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

TRIBE ANTHEMIDEAE

STINKING MAYWEED (Anthetnis Cotula L.)

Other English names: Mayweed, Dog's Chamomile, Dog
Fennel.

Other Latin name : Maruta Cotula DC.

Introduced from Europe. Annual or winter annual. Dull
green, slightly hairy or hairless, with an acrid taste and a strong,
fetid odour. Stems 12 to 18 inches high, much branched from
the root up. Leaves finely dissected, twice or thrice pinnatifid.
Flower heads numerous, white, yellow-eyed, daisy-like, only
about 1 inch in diameter, supported by slender, naked footstalks,
forming a flat top bunch. Toward maturity the rays turn
abruptly downward.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 83) is small, about 1/16 of an inch
long, ovate-oblong or oblong, cut off straight at the upper end,
with a small knob in the centre, the smaller end abruptly pointed.
The surface roughened with tubercles arranged more or less
symmetrically in about 10 longitudinal rows; sometimes, how-
ever, the surface is nearly smooth.

Time of flowering: Summer to autumn; seed ripe by July
and young plants sometimes abundant in September.

Propagation : By seeds.

Occurrence : A common weed in old settlements, around
buildings, along roads and in waste places, from the Atlantic
Coast to Manitoba, where it is rare as yet and found only along
railways but is rapidly appearing in new districts.

Injury: An objectionable pest in fields and gardens; most
abundant where props have killed out in wet places. The seed
is a common impurity in grass and clover seeds. The dust from
Mayweed, ragweeds and others of this family, produced in
threshing grain, is irritating, if not poisonous.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 167

Remedy: Sow clean grass and clover seeds. Do not allow
the plant to mature. Clean up waste places about farmyards
and seed to permanent grass that will take full possession of the
soil to the exclusion of this and other weeds. The plant is usually
prevalent in gardens fertilized with manure from city stables.
The seeds are not long-lived and the vitality of many would
be destroyed by piling the manure and allowing it to ferment
for a few months.

ALLIED SPECIES: In the Maritime Provinces Scentless
Mayweed or Chamomile (Matricaria inodora L.) is commonly
found growing with the above. The two plants resemble each
other, but Scentless Mayweed is a much handsomer plant,
with flowers nearly 2 inches across and foliage of a dark, rich
green. It lacks the unpleasant odour.

The seed is entirely different, being about 1/10 of an inch
long, square, somewhat flattened, dark brown except the margined
top and the 4 very prominent, wing-like ribs, present in some
seeds, which are generally much paler.

Yarrow or Milfoil (Achillea Millefolium L.) is a well known
plant by waysides and in meadows throughout the ^Dominion.
A native form in the West occurs high up on the mountains as
well as on the prairies. The erect stems, 6 to 18 inches high,
bear flat-topped clusters of white flower heads and finely-divided,
fern-like leaves.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 82) is about 1/16 of an inch long,
gray with a white margin, flat and thin, oblong-wedge-shaped.
It is similar to the seed of Ox-eye Daisy, but flat, smooth^nd
ribless. Often found among seeds of the smaller grass.

Who soweth his Barlej' too soon, or in Rain,
Of Oats and of Thistles shall after complain.
I speak not of May weed, of C!ockle and such.
That noieth the Barley so often and much.

— ^Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Poinles of Htisbandrie^ 1557.

158 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

OX-EYE DAISY {Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum L.v&T.pinnatifidum

Lecoq & Lamotte)

Other English names: White Daisy, White Weed.
Other Latin name : Leucanthemum vulgare Lam.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, shallow-rooted. Stems
numerous, simple or little branched, 1 to 3 feet high. Basal
leaves are more or less pinnatifid or coarsely and irregularly
toothed; middle and upper stem-leaves narrowly oblong or
somewhat lance-shaped, conspicuously pinnatifid at the base.
Flower heads solitary on long, naked footstalks, very handsome,
1^ to 2 inches across; rays 20 to 30, pure white, spreading, 2 to
3-toothed at the apex; centre flowers yellow.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 84) is 1/12 of an inch long, club-
shaped or elongate-ovate, usually curved, almost straight on
one side and convex on the other, the knob-like scar at the top
prominent; 10 well-defined white ridges run the whole length
of the seed, meeting at both ends; between these ridges the
surface of the seed is black, minutely dotted with white; no
pappus. A single plant produces from 5,000 to 8,000 seeds.

Time of flowering : June ; seeds ripe in July.

Propagation: By short offsets from the woody rootstock,
and more abundantly by seeds.

Occurrence: Enormously abundant in old pastures, in
meadows and by roadsides from the Atlantic Coast to the borders
of Manitoba and occasional along the railways to the Pacific
Coast.

Injury: A vigorous, persistent weed in old meadows, where
it soon chokes out the grass. It frequently gives trouble in
lawns. The seed is common in timothy and other grass seeds.

Remedy : Sow clean seed. Shallow plowing of sod in August,
with thorough cultivation from time to time until frost, will

Plate 60

OX-BYE- OR WHITE- DAISY

( Ch^^san^he m U IT) Le UCanl"henD U m LVti/:pinnatifiiiutn.LeerHfliLafnofte^

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 159

suppress it. This pest does not give trouble on lauds worked
under a short rotation of crops. Clover for hay in which this
weed is plentiful should be cut early. Pasture lands overrun
with it may be devoted to sheep grazing. Timothy containing
Ox-eye Daisy should not be taken for seed.

ALLIED SPECIES: To the tribe Anthemideae belongs Com-
mon Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) which is quite different from
Common Ragwort, although the two plants seem to be confused
in the Maritime Provinces. Tansy has almost rayless flowers;
quite smooth, 5-ribbed seeds, with 5 blunt teeth at the top
instead of a silky pappus. The plant is pleasantly aromatic
instead of rankly fetid, a characteristic which in Nova Scotia
has gained for Common Ragwort the name of Stinking Willie.

On the western plains there are many species of Wormwoods
(Artemisia) which are spoken of collectively as Sage Brushes.
Two of these, Pasture Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt.) and
the so-called Sweet Sage or Lesser Pasture Sage (Artemisia frigida
Willd.) sometimes infest home pastures, where the grass has been
eaten close, necessitating breaking up the sod. The best known
of the wormwoods is False Tansy (Artemisia biennis W^illd.),
a biennial which occurs in all parts of Canada. Although easily
eradicated, it is an unsightly weed. It is quite common among
grain crops on stubble. The seed (Plate 76, fig. 85) is 1/15
of an inch long, dark brown, egg-shaped, wrinkled lengthwise,
and with a conspicuous, pale-coloured, ring-like basal scar.

They seem to have paid more attention formerly, at least In some parts of Scotland,
to the extirpation of annual weeds than is thought of at present. It is recorded that
an intelligent landlord, Sir William Grierson, was accustomed to hold Goul (Chrysan-
themum) courts, for the express purp)ose of fining the farmers, on whose growing crop
three heads, or upwards of that weed was found. Such a practice if annually adopted
would soon extirpate annual weeds.

— Sinclair, System of Husbandry, 1814.

160 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

TRIBE SENECIONEAE

COMMON RAGWORT (Senecio Jacohaea L.)

Other English names: Stinking Willie, Baughlan, Tansy
Ragwort, Staggerwort, St. James'-wort.

Introduced from Europe, Perennial from few shallow,
short, thick rootstocks. Under cultivation many plants, after
flowering the second year, die without making any offsets.
Whole plant almost hairless or with tufts of woolly hairs at the
base of the leaves and flower heads and straggling hairs over
the whole surface. Stem stiff, erect, grooved, 2 to 3 feet; much
branched above. Root-leaves 6 to 8 inches long, stalked; stem-
leaves stalkless, embracing the stem; all leaves dark green,
deeply twice pinnatifid, the segments crowded and overlapping,
crisped and waved. Flower heads golden-yellow and very
showy; 3/4 inch across; numerous, erect, arranged in flat-topped,
dense, compound corymbs.

The seeds (Plate 76, fig. 86) are about 1/12 of an inch long,
creamy white, oblong, excavated at the top, with a small central
point, deeply grooved along the sides; those of the centre
almost straight, more or less angled, with short bristles; those
of the ray-flowers smooth, much curved and broader; pap-
pus white.

Time of flowering: July till November; seed ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds and by a few offsets from the base
of the stem.

Occurrence: Abundant in Pictou and Antigonish counties
in NoA^a Scotia and in parts of Prince Edward Island; also re-
ported from Quebec and the township of Puslinch in Ontario,
It looks as though Ragwort had been imported into Nova Scotia
from Scotland and into Prince Edward Island from Ireland,
where it is known under the same name, Baughlan, as it bears
in its new home.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 161

Injury: This weed causes a curious and fatal disease of the
liver (hepatic cirrhosis) in cattle. For many years it was sus-
pected that Ragwort was the cause of this malady, and this
has recently been conclusively proved by experiments carried
out by Dr. W. H. Pethick, of Antigonish, under the direction
of the Dominion Veterinary Director General, Dr. J. G. Ruther-
ford. The disease, previously supposed to be contagious, has
been removed from the list dealt with under the Animal Con-
tagious Diseases Act.

Remedy: Every effort should be made to eradicate this
coarse, conspicuous and dangerous plant, now that there is proof
of its nature. It does not increase extensively from the root
and there is good evidence that where it is mowed systematically
it soon disappears. In pastures and meadows every plant should
be grubbed out before the seeds form. Ragwort is not readily
eaten by cattle when green: the first attention should therefore
be given to cleaning meadows, because it is eaten by all kinds
of stock when mixed with hay. A short rotation of crops would
at once exterminate it. Sheep can eat this weed with com-
parative impunity and it dies out when closely eaten off. System-
atic and combined effort should be made by municipal authorities
to have it destroyed along roadsides.

ALLIED SPECIES: Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris L.)
has been introduced from Europe and is now found in gardens,
rather rarely in Ontario and Quebec and the Prairie Prov-
inces but abundantly in the Maritime Pro^'^nces and on the
Pacific Coast. It is a small, branching plant, 6 to 8 inches high,
bearing many tassel-like rayless flowers. The seed is long
and narrow, spindle-shaped, the upper end blunt and slightly
enlarged by the white apical scar; surface finely ridged length-
wise, and covered with short white bristles, differing in this
from the seed of the similar Stinking Groundsel (Senecio viscosits
L.) which occurs in the Maritime Provinces with Common
Groundsel. Stinking Groundsel is viscid-hairy, its flower heads
bear marginal ray-florets, and the seed is rather long, entirely
without bristles.

162 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA

Fireweed (Erechtites hieracijolia (L.) Raf.) is a tall rank-
smelling annual, with general habits of growth like some varieties
of groundsel. The branched stem is succulent and character-
istically striate. The flower heads are numerous, small, whitish
and conspicuously swollen at the base before opening.

The seed is small, linear-oblong, tapering at the end and
bearing a thick pappus of fine, soft, white hairs.

The common name, Fireweed, comes from the fact that
this weed often occurs on land that has been swept by fire.

TRIBE CYNAREAE
LESSER BURDOCK {Arctium minus Bernh.)

Other English names : Bardane, Common Burdock, Clotbur.

Other Latin names: Lappa minor DC, Arctium Lappa L.,
var. minus Gray.

Introduced from Europe. Biennial, from a deep, thick,
taproot. Root-leaves large, heart-shaped, downy beneath,
somewhat resembling those of rhubarb, footstalks hollow.
Flowering stem much branched, from 3 to 6 feet high. Flowers
purple, flower heads numerous, 3/4 inch across, in clusters at the
tips of the branches and in the axils of the upper leaves, oval-
globular; the scaly bracts surrounding the flower-heads ending
with hooks, by which the seed-bearing heads become burs and
are distributed by adhering to passing animals.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 87) is about 1/4 of an inch long, pale
brown with dark, transverse, zigzag, depressed marks, oblong-,
ovoid, cut off abruptly at each end, flattened, with about 5
longitudinal ridges generally somewhat curved; apical scar
circular with a central point; pappus, when present, consisting
of several rows of short bristles, upwardly barbed.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 163

Time of flowering: July-August; seed ripe by September.

Propagation: By seeds.

Occurrence: Rich land in the older settled provinces;
common by roadsides, in waste places and orchards in sod.

Injury: An unsightly weed about farmyards, waste places
and in orchards. It is especially objectionable in pastures where
sheep are kept. It seldom gives trouble in fields under clean
cultivation.

Remedy: Cut below the crown or spud out when the ground
is wet and soft, either the first year or before the seeds are ripe
the second. A handful of salt applied after cutting in hot dry
weather wUl kill the plant. Waste places should be seeded to
grass and the weeds kept out until the grass has become firmly
established.

ALLIED SPECIES: Great Burdock (Arctiuin Lappa L.),
not as common as Lesser Burdock, is a larger, coarser plant,
with much larger, green flower heads, 1^ inch across, with hooked
scales and more spreading and longer leaf stalks.

For out of the old fieldes, as men saithe,
Cometh al this new corne fro j'ere to yere.
And out of old bookes, in good faithe,
Cometh al this new science that men lere.

— Chaucer, The Assembly of FouUs, 1381.

If we rightly consider the Addresses of this Divine Contemplation of Herbs and
Plants, with what alluring Steps and Paces the Study of them directs Us to an admiration
of the Supream Wisdome; we cannot but even from these inferiour things arrive some-
what near unto a heavenly Contentment.

— William Cole. Nature's Paradise, 1657

164 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

CANADA THISTLE (Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.)

Other English names: Creeping Thistle, Soft Field Thistle.

Other Latin names: Carduus arvensis (L.) Robs.; Cnicus
arvensis Hoffm.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial with deep running
rootstocks. Stems erect, 2 to 4 feet high, marked with fine
longitudinal lines. Leaves variable in shape, deeply pinnatifid,
waved and crested, very prickly, in some plants much less so
than in others, somewhat downy, particularly beneath. Flower
heads numerous, in a large loose corymb at the top of the stems.
Flowers variable in colour, ranging from pale purple through
shades of pink to white. Some plants bear male flowers only,
which form no seeds, other plants female flowers only, which
produce many seeds; the flower heads of male plants are nearly
globe-shaped, 1 inch across, those of the female plants only about
half as large, oblong, with short florets. Large patches may
be found bearing only male flowers, showing that all the plants
originated from a single seed.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 89) is 1/8 of an inch long, light brown,
elongated oblong, smooth, somewhat flattened and curved,
more or less bluntly angled, marked with faint longitudinal
lines; the top is nearly round, flat, and has a narrow rim with
a small cone-shaped point in the centre; pappus copious, white.
The pappus easily breaks off by threshing and handling and is
absent when the seed is found in commercial grain and seeds.

Time of flowering : June to August ; seed ripe by July.

Propagation: By seeds and extensive rootstocks, which
send up both leafy barren shoots and flowering stems.. This
well known pest, which, although called Canada Thistle in
North America, is really the Field or Creeping Thistle of England,
has been introduced into almost all the British colonies and has
everywhere proved a troublesome and persistent enemy of farmers.
The rootstocks run down into the soil from eight to fifteen inches,
and often much deeper; when patches are covered up stems can
be thrown up through many feet of soil.

Plate 63

CANADA THISTLE-

(Cnicus arvensis iVo>r».)

i

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 165

Occurrence: Abundant in eastern Canada, Manitoba and
British Columbia; rapidly spreading in Saskatchewan and
Alberta.

Injury: A gross feeder and a vigorous grower, which not
only crowds out crops but is conspicuous evidence of negligent
farming. The seed is frequently found in grass and clover seeds
and in seed oats.

Remedy: Being a deep-rooted perennial, Canada Thistle
should be plowed deep in summer, just as the flowers open; or
the flowering stems may be mowed down and the land plowed
as soon as a new growth appears. As new stems are thrown
up they must be cut off with a broad-shared cultivator at intervals
through the summer and autumn. Deep plowing late in autumn
has been found useful in suppressing thistles in Manitoba.

The chief safeguard against Canada Thistle and all similar
deep-rooted perennials is undoubtedly a regular short rotation
of crops with thorough cultivation. A three-year rotation,
including two cuttings of early red clover for the first year,
followed by deep fall plowing for hoed crops with clean cultivation,
and a cereal crop for the third year, will suppress it.

ALLIED SPECIES: In addition to Canada Thistle, farmers
sometimes complain of two other allied species. Bull Thistle or
Spear Thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum (L.) Hill.) is a large, coarse
biennial, introduced from Europe, 2 to 4 feet high, widely
branching, with many large, deep purple flower heads, 1^
inches high by as much across. The seed (Plate 76, fig. 88) is
similar to that of Canada Thistle, but larger, about 1/6 of
an inch long, plumper in proportion to the length, generally
darker at the broader end, grayish brown in colour, marked
with faint longitudinal lines. It occurs sometimes in seed
grain. The treatment given for Lesser Burdock is effective
for this weed.

Prairie Thistle or Western Bull Thistle (Cirsium undulatum
(Nutt.) Spreng.) is a native perennial with running root-
stocks and large, white-woolly leaves and stems; flower heads

166 i^ARM WEEDS OF CANADA

large, nearly 2 inches across, solitary at the end of the branches.
The seed is also similar to that of Canada Thistle, but broader,
more flattened, about 1/3 of an inch long, highly shiny. This
is not a serious pest and soon disappears when the land is put
under crop.

Closely allied to these thistles are the Knapweeds (Centaurea).-
Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra L.), is rather abundant in
meadows in the Maritime Provinces. It is a coarse perennial with
thistle-like flowers, over 1 inch across and 1^ inches high. The
calyx-like whorl of bracts surrounding the flower heads is
spherical and composed of black-fringed scales.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 90) is about 1/8 inch long, half as wide,
tapering to the base, slightly angular, somewhat flattened and
the dark, shining gray surface striped lengthwise with pale
ridges; the whole seed is sparsely hairy. The large apical scar
covers the whole of the top and is surrounded by a pappus of
2 or 3 rows of short, flat bristles. A characteristic of this seed,
is the more or less hooked pointed end bearing the basal scar.

TRIBE CICHORIEAE
CHICORY (Cichorium Intybus L.)

Other English names: Wild Chicory, Wild Succory, Blue
Sailors.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial from a deep, long,
thick root. Stems 2 to 3 feet high, branched, hairy below. Root-
leaves closely resembling those of Common Dandelion, 6 to 8 inches
long, spreading on the ground, dentate or pinnatifid with
the divisions directed backward; midribs hairy beneath; upper
leaves glandular hairy on the margins, clasping at base.
Flower heads bright blue, sometimes purple or nearly white,
about 2 inches across, composed entirely of strap-shaped flowers,
usually closing by noon, in stalkless clusters of 3 or 4 together
along the almost leafless stems.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 91) is 1/8 inch long, dark brown or
straw-coloured, mottled with brown, wedge-shaped, obtusely

Plate 64

CHICORY

(CichoriuiT) Inf-ybus l)

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 167

3 to 5-angled, sometimes much curved; the surface grooved
and ridged from top to bottom and roughened crosswise with
minute, close, raised and waved lines; at the top, surrounding
the apical scar, is a fringe of short, flat, white bristles.

Time of flowering: July to frost; seeds ripe early in
August.

Propagation: By seeds, and shoots which develop from the
crown of the roots.

Occurrence: Through eastern Canada, most abundant in
Quebec. A common roadside weed and occasionally found in
cultivated fields.

Injury: A troublesome weed in rich, low land and in pastures.
Seeds often found among crop seeds, particularly in clovers and
grasses.

Remedy: Sow clean seed. A short rotation of crops will
soon suppress it. Chicory is not often seen in good farming
districts except as a wayside weed. Individual plants may be
destroyed by close cutting and applying salt to the root in hot,
dry weather.

Many report how the Doves make use of vervain, Swallows of Celandine, Linnets
of Eye-bright, and Hawks of Hawkweed, for the recovei-y of their own, and their young
one's sight.

— ^William Cole, Adam in Eden, or Natures Paradise, 1657.

I have not only set the names of Plants and their Vertues but their proprieties also,
their Affects and Effects, their Increase and Decrease, their Flourishing and Fading;
their Distinct Varieties and several Qualities, so that I may resolve the Reader this
much, that though no Art be able to expresse Nature in her likenesse, yet if any Author
can with his Pen counterfeit Similitude for Life, shape and shaddowes for substance,
he doth to the utmost of his power expresse his Duty.

— ^William Cole, Adam in Eden, <» Nature's Paradise, 1657.

168 t'AEM WEEDS OF CANADA

FALL DANDELION (Leontodon autumnalis L.)

Other English names: August Flower, Autumnal Hawkbit,
falsely called Arnica.

Other Latin name : Apargia autumnalis Hoffm.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial. Rootstock short and
thick, frequently divided into several heads, each of which
bears a thick tuft of toothed leaves, somewhat resembling those of
Common Dandelion, and several few-flowered, branched, leafless,
scaly stems. Flower heads over 1 inch across, bright yellow.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 92) is 1/4 inch long, brown, linear,
not beaked, ribbed lengthwise, marked with fine lines crosswise;
pappus dirty white, in 1 row of feathery bristles, about the
length of the seed itself.

Time of flowering: July till frost; seeds ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds and by division of the crown.

Occurrence: Abundant in the Maritime Provinces and
parts of Quebec. Recently reported from several places in
Ontario as occurring in hayfields.

Injury: Spreads rapidly from seed and overruns meadows,
pastures and lawns, where it chokes out the grass.

Remedy: Fields infested with this weed should be brought
under cultivation. It will not give trouble on lands worked
under a short rotation, such as cereal grains, clover and grass
for two years and hoed crops or peas for the fourth year, followed
again by cereal grain. Fasture lands that can not be cultivated
may be improved by severely raking the surface with a spring
tooth harrow and sowing the most vigorous grasses. It is freely
eaten by sheep when their favorite pasture grasses are short.

ALLIED SPECIES: Ox-tongue (Picris echioides L.) is a
coarse, rough, bristly perennial with leafy branches, leaves and
bracts covered with small bristly spines, flowers yellow. The
seed, which occasionally occurs in grass and clover seeds, is
cylindrical, about 1/10 of an inch long, reddish brown, contracted
to a neck above, and transversely wrinkled.

Plate 6i

PALL DAN DE- LI ON AUG UST FLOWER

( Leonrodon auhumn alis z.l

I

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 169

Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius L.) and Yellow Goat*s Beard
(Tragopogon pratensis L.) are common wayside weeds in the
eastern provinces, seldom giving trouble in fields. The former
is thought to have escaped from cultivation. They may be
distinguished by their grass-like clasping leaves and large, solitary
heads of yellow or purple flowers, somewhat similar in general
appearance to the dandelions.

Common Dandelion {Taraxacum officinale Weber) is a
well known pest of all long-settled districts. It differs from
Fall Dandelion in having long, deep, tapering roots, every
part of which, if broken off, will throw out leaves and form new
plants, as well as in having hollow, single-headed flower stalks.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 93) is about 1/8 of an inch long, spindle-
shaped, ridged lengthwise, the ridges roughened with upwardly
directed, rigid spines decreasing in size from the top to the base
of the seed, where they appear as minute tubercles. The top
end of the seed runs into a beak, about 1/3 of an inch long, crowned
with a white, thin pappus, 1/2 the length of the beak. This
beak breaks off easily and is not present on seeds found in com-
mercial samples.

Red-seeded Dandelion (Taraxacum erythrospermum Andrz.)
occurs with the preceding and differs from it merely by having
more deeply divided leaves, sulphur-yellow, smaller heads of
flowers, and reddish-purple seeds.

It is important to prevent dandelions from seeding in
lands adjacent to lawns. Though entailing much labour,
the most satisfactory way to deal with them, when deeply rooted
in lawns, is to loosen the soil with a digging fork and pull them
up. The use of the fork may not be necessary in some wet and
soft soils. The application of kerosene to the crown of the plant,
in the centre of the rosette of leaves, is recommended. Sulphate
of ammonia or sulphate of iron in excess is also recommended.
A small tablespoonful of salt applied in the morning of a hot
day, when the soil is quite dry, will kill them.

170 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

PERENNIAL SO »V THISTLE {Sonchus arvmsis L.)

Other English names: Field Sow Thistle, Creeping Sow
Thistle, Corn Sow Thistle (in England), also sometimes incorrectly
called Russian Ihistle, which, however, is an entirely different
plant, described in the Spinach family.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, deep-rooted, with
large and vigorous running rootstocks. Stems 1 to 5 feet high,
hollow, simple, with few leaves, and branching at the top. Whole
plant filled with a bitter, milky juice. Leaves 6 to 12 inches
long, pointed, deeply cut, the lower divisions directed backward,
clasping the stem by their heart-shaped base, and edged with
soft spines. Flowers bright yellow, 1^ inches across, in corymbs,
closing in strong sunlight; the flower stalk and the scaly bracts
surrounding the flower-heads bristly, covered, 'n the common
form, with long, glandular hairs. A perfectly smooth variety
is common in parts of New Brunswick and also occurs at Port
Hope, Ontario.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 94) is about 1/8 inch long, dark reddish-
brown, oblong, closely and deeply ridged lengthwise, the ribs
wrinkled transversely, giving the seed the appearance of being
ridged both ways, bearing at the top a tuft of white, silky and
persistent hairs which spread in drying and enable the seed
to be carried long distances by the wind.

Time of flowering: June to August; seed ripe by July.

Propagation: Very rapid, by seeds and running rootstocks.

Occurrence: Abundant in cultivated fields and along road-
sides, rapidly spreading from the Atlantic Coast to Manitoba;
introduced in a few localities from there westward.

Injury: Perennial Sow Thistle, from its exceptionally
vigorous running rootstocks and the large amount of seed it
matures, is one of our most aggressive weed enemies. It causes
enormous loss, both on account of the difficulty of eradicating
it and by reducing crop yields. Wherever established, it chokes

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 171

out the crops almost completely. It is much worse in this respect
than any of the other thistles. In Manitoba Perennial Sow
Thistle is considered the worst of all weed pests; in some cases
it has rendered whole fields unfit for grain production. If left
undisturbed, its seeds ripen before the grain is cut and are carried
long distances by the wind. The seed is sometimes present in
clover and grass seeds and seed grain.

Remedy: The fight against this aggressive, pernicous pest
will continue indefinitely in localities where it has become
established unless extreme measures are taken, and continued
from year to year, to prevent it maturing and distributing its
seed from waste places and the lands of careless farmers. Every
farmer should be sufficiently familiar with this plant to distinguish
it from the other sow thistles, as it is a much more dangerous
weed. It should be given special attention by municipal govern-
ing bodies and weed inspectors.

Small patches may be eradicated by digging out the
roots as thoroughly as possible and destroying them. This
may have to be done several times during a season. Great
care must be taken not to distribute pieces of the rootstalks
over the fields by harrows or other implements. To exterminate
Perennial Sow Thistle, some system must be adopted which
will prevent the development of leaves for a period sufficiently
long to kill the roots by smothering them. When a field is
badly infested it requires special treatment for a season and
close attention for a number of years. One of the most effective
methods is to plow lightly immediately after the hay or grain
crop is removed and follow with frequent use of a broad-shared
cultivator. Late in the fall plow again, somewhat deeper. In
the spring give frequent cultivation, so as to prevent the develop-
ment of any leaves and thus weaken the roots to the greatest
possible extent. About the middle of June or first of July sow
rape in drills at the rate of about 1^ lbs. per acre. Cultivate
between the drills as soon as possible and repeat at short intervals
until the rape completely covers the ground. Some hand hoeing
may be necessary to keep all the thistles down. This should
pretty well exterminate the pest but if some plants stiU remain

172 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

when the rape is cut or pastured off, the field may be fall plowed
and put into hoed crop the next season, when special attention
can be given to any small patches that may appear. Buck-
wheat ite sometimes used instead of rape for a smothering crop.

In the Prairie Provinces Perennial Sow Thistle can be
combatted most effectively by a bare summer-fallow, which
should be plowed early and cultivated throughout the season
as often as is necessary to keep down all leaf growth. When
a field is badly infested it may be necessary to plow again in the
fall, give thorough surface cultivation until late the following
spring, and sow with oats or barley to be cut green for feed.
Too much emphasis can not be placed on thorough cultivation,
for if this is not given a summer-fallow will merely enable the
pest to get a stronger hold.

ANNUAL SOW THISTLE (Sonchus oleraceus L.)

Other English names: Hare's Lettuce, Cole wort or Thistle
Milkweed, Milk Thistle, Milky Tassel, Swinies, Common Sow
Thistle.

Introduced from Europe. Annual, roots fibrous. Stem
nearly simple, 1 to 4 feet high. Leaves deeply cut and toothed
with soft spiny teeth; the basal ones pinnatifid, terminated by
a large lobe, clasping the stem by their heart-shaped base, ending
in sharp points. The flower is pale yellow, about 1/2 to 1 inch
in diameter. The scaly bracts surrounding the flower-heads
are downy only when young, later becoming hairless.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 95) is somewhat similar to that of
Perennial Sow Thistle but a little shorter, flattened, pointed
at the basal end. The longitudinal ridges are wider apart,
much finer, and the whole surface of the seed, the ridges as well
as the interspaces, is finely wrinkled transversely. Pappus
falls off easily.

Time of flowering: May to October; seeds ripe by July,

Propagation: By seeds, which are distributed by the wind.

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 173

Occurrence : Widely distributed throughout eastern Canada
and westward to the Prairie Provinces, in fields, gardens and
waste places.

Injury: A troublesome weed in cultivated lands. Because
of its natural means of distribution, it is diflBcult to suppress.

Remedy : Prevent it from seeding in waste places by cleaning
them up and seeding them to permanent, vigorous grasses.
This annual weed, with its relatively small, pale yellow flowers,
when compared with the perennial species is not difficult to control
by ordinary methods of cultivation and alternation of crops.
Sheep, if in sufiicient numbers, will prevent sow thistles from
seeding in pasture lands.

ALLIED SPECIES: Spiny-leaved or Prickly Sow Thistle
(Sonchus asper (L.) Hill.) is an annual of the same habit as Com-
mon Sow Thistle. It may be easily identified by its more prickly
nature and less deeply cut leaves, the base appendages of
which, instead of spreading, are appressed to the stem and
rounded.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 96) is similar to that of the preceding
species in size and shape; distinctly 3-nerved on each side,
with nerves and interspaces quite smooth. Pappus not persistent.

Uncultivated lands, that are often a breeding ground for
sow thistles and other weeds, could be made less dangerous by
seeding to some vigorous, permanent grass that is able to main-
tain full possession of the soil.

The thistle proves a great annoyance to some lands by Tfilling the grass com, etc.,
althovigh it be a siire token of the strength of the land. The way to destroy them is
to cut them up by the roots before feeding time; the advantage you will receive will ans-
wer your expense and more.

— John Worlidge, The Mystery of Husbandry Discovered cmd laid open, 1681.

174 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

PRICKXY LETTUCE (Lactuca scariola L., var. integrata Gren.

& Godr.)

Other English names : Compass Plant or Weed Milk Thistle.

Other Latin name : Lactuca virosa of American authors not L,

Introduced from Europe. Annual, occasionally a winter
annual. A coarse, tall-stemmed plant, averaging 3 to 5 feet in
height. In British Columbia plants 8 feet high have been found.
The leaves are oblong-lance-shaped margined with spines and
prickly on the midrib beneath, only the lower ones more or less
pinnatifid, stalkless, with ear-like lobes at the base. The leaves
of the stem are twisted at the clasping base so as to stand vertically
with the edge to the sun, instead of horizontally, as in the case
of the leaves of most plants. This peculiarity has given rise
to a common name of this lettuce, the Compass Plant. The
flower heads are pale yellow, less than 1/2 inch across, on a large,
wide-spreading panicle, only a few open at a time.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 97) is about 1/8 inchlong, dark greenish-
gray, similar to that of the black-seeded varieties of the garden
lettuce, usually a little smaller, and, like them, broadly lance-
shaped and somewhat curved, flattened, margined and bearing
5 to 7 narrow ridges down each face; whole surface roughened
with fine wrinkles, and short, white bristles on the ridges near
the apex. The beak widens at the apex and is as long as the
seed, very slender and often twisted; pappus white. Both
beak and pappus easily broken off by handling the seed.

Time of flowering: July-August; seeds ripe by August.

Propagation: By seeds, which are carried long distances
by the wind.

Occurrence : Widely distributed in waste places from Nova
Scotia to the Prairie Provinces and reported from parts of British
Columbia ; sometimes giving trouble in fields. The seed is
frequently found among crop seeds.

Plate 68
PRICKLY LE-TTUCB

iLacruca SCanola LVnrtnUgrat^avnti,tiotlfr]

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 175

Injury: A coarse, weedy plant, often quite prevalent in
clover fields and the margins of winter wheat. Like other species
of wild lettuce it possesses a narcotic poison, commonly known
as lettuce-opium, and is said to be unwholesome to live stock. The
plants frequently occur in dense masses, and when young and
tender are readily eaten by horses, cattle and sheep. Prickly
Lettuce harbours fungus diseases common to cultivated lettuce
and some other crops.

Remedy: The seed is short-lived and if the plant is kept
closely cut and prevented from seeding in waste places for two
or three years it will soon disappear from cultivated areas.
Clean waste lands and seed to permanent vigorous grasses.
Ordinary methods of cultivation will suppress it in fields.

ALLIED SPECIES: Wild Lettuce or Horse Weed {Laduca
canadensis L.). A tall annual or biennial weed, hairless, smooth,
upper leaves lance-shaped, without any teeth or divisions, lower
leaves roundly pinnatifid. Flowers yellow, in open panicles.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 98) is about 1/6 of an inch long, broadly
ovate, ending in a thin beak, crowned with a sUky pappus.
Middle rib very prominent. The surface is rough, dark brown,
the centre of the seed darker than the wing-like and somewhat
radiate margin.

Wherever there are an Abundance of these Thistles, and such other of the rooted
Kinds, let the Farmer understand that the Ground will cost him much more Expence
than under any other Condition, whatever Method he follows.

— Thomas Hale, The CompUtxt Body of Husbandry, 1766.

The ■putting forth of certain Herbs, disoovereth of what nature the Ground where
they put forth is; as wild Thyme sheweth good Feeding Ground for Cattel; Bettony and
Strawberries shew grounds fit for Wood; Camomile sheweth mellow Grounds fit for Wheat;
Mustard-Seed growing after the Plough, sheweth a good strong Ground also for Wheat
Burnet sheweth good Meadow, and thp like.

— Bacon, Natural History, 1625.

176 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

BLUE LETTUCE (Lactuca pulchella (Pursh) DC.)

Other English names: Showy Lettuce, Large-flowered Blue
Lettuce.

Other Latin names : Mulgediumpulchellum }^utt.; Mulgedium
acuminatum DC. ; Sonchus pulchellus Pursh.

Native. Perennial, deep-rooted. Stems 2 to 3 feet, leafy
below. Whole plant smooth and covered with a fine bloom,
filled with milky juice. Leaves variable, linear-lance-shaped
or oblong; without teeth or divisions, or sometimes dentate
or pinnatifid, the divisions directed backward ; stem-leaves less
divided and stalkless. The flower heads are nearly 1 inch
across, pale blue, not very numerous, on scaly footstalks, in a
narrow panicle.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 99) i3 about 1/4 inch long, including
the short, thick beak, the tip of which is whitish, expanded
into a short, cup-shaped disc, red when immature, slaty-gray
when ripe; club-shaped, flattened with thick ridges down each
face; whole surface dull and rough; pappus longer than the seed,
pure white and silky.

Time of flowering : June-July ; seed ripe by about the end of
July.

Propagation: By seeds and fleshy, deep, persistent, running
rootstocks.

Occurrence: Throughout the Prairie Provinces and British
Columbia; in moist or sandy soil, particularly where there is some
alkali.

Injury: A deep-rooted, troublesome weed, having all the
bad characteristics of Prickly Lettuce and much more difficult
to suppress.

Ftate 69

BLUE LETTUCE'

(Lac^uca pulchella 'PurshtD.c)

THE SUNFLOWER FAB4ILY 177

Remedy: Prevent it from distributing its seeds, by con-
tinued cutting along streams, ditches and other waste places.
Where this weed is established in fields, a thorough summer-
fallow, commenced early in the season, with deep cultivation,
is advisable. To check this and other weeds having deep,
persistent rootstocks, the arrangement of crops should allow
thorough cultivation with the disc or broad-shared cultivator
before spring seeding, and again in the autumn.

ALLIED SPECIES: Skeleton Weed {Lygodemiia juncea
(Pursh) D. Don.) is a native, much-branched perennial, of a
rush-like appearance from its almost leafless stems and branches.
Leaves linear-lance-shaped, rigid, sharp-pointed, the upper ones
nearly reduced to scales. Heads 5-flowered, purplish, solitary
at the end of the branches.

The seed is 1/6 of an inch long, slender, slightly tapering,
ribbed, crowned with a light brown pappus.

This pest is scarcely less objectionable than Blue Lettuce and
should be treated in much the same way. It is more confined to
local, relatively moist areas.

If we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hj'ssop and weed up thj-me, supply it
with one gender of herbs or distract it with manj', either to have it sterile with idleness
or manured with industrj', why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.

— Shakespeare, Othello, 1, iii, 1604

Who weeding slacketh.
Good hiasbandry lacketh.

— Thomas Tusser, Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie, 1557.

The farmer, who exp>ects to make profit of his land from what he sows or plants
in it, finds not only Herbae inutHes, but also noxiae, unprofitable and hurtful weeds;
which come like Muscae, or unin\'ited guests, that always hurt and often spoil his crop,
by devouring what he has by his labour in dunging and tilling, provided for its sustenance.

— Jethro Tull, Ttu Horse Hoeing Husbandry, 1731.

178 FARM WEP:DS of CANADA

ORANGE HAWKWEED (Hieracium aurantiacum L.)

Other English names: Devil's Paint-brush, Paint-brush.

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, low-growing, throwing
out many creeping branches close to the ground. Filled with
bitter, milky sap. Whole plant very hairy. Flowering stems
1 to 2 feet, erect and simple, almost leafless, clothed with stellate
down, black gland-tipped hairs and long white hairs from black
tubercles, bearing at the top a corymb of about a dozen hand-
some flower heads nearly 1 inch across. The fiery orange-red
of the flowers is very striking. Leaves long, rounded at the
top, gradually narrowing towards the base or lance-shaped,
blunt-pointed, 3 to 8 inches long, tufted, many lying down flat.

The seed (Plate 76, fig. 100) is from 1/16 to 1/12 of an inch
long; purplish-black, unripe seed deep red; linear-oblong, cut
off square at the top, pointed at the base, strongly 10-ribbed
lengthwise, the tops of the ribs forming a star-like rim around
the base of the dusky white pappus, which is not persistent.

Time of flowering : June; seeds ripe by July.

Propagation : By seeds and creeping stems.

Occurrence: Abundant and troublesome in the upland
pastures of the Eastern Townships of Quebec and in some places
in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Reported occasion-
ally from Ontario and all the eastern provinces.

Injury: A vigorous grower which spreads rapidly by its
runners and matures many seeds, by means of which it soon
overruns land that can not be plowed, the abundant and use-
less foliage displacing grass and ruining meadows and pastures.

Remedy: Although a vigorous grower, all the roots are
close to the surface of the ground. In land used for crops,
plowing down followed by surface cultivation will kill it. In-
fested meadows and pastures must be broken up and put under
a short rotation of crops. For mountain pastures and uplands
where plowing is not practicable, small patches may be kept
from spreading by applying salt in hot dry weather, at the rate

^>1

i^i ii ^ ^> -

Plate 7C

ORANGE HAWKWE-E-D OR DEVILS PAINT-BRUSH

{ Hieracium auranhacum l)

THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY 179

of 18 to 20 pounds to the square rod. Infested rocky pastures
may be improved by sowing vigorous grasses that are better able
to choke out hawkweed than the finer native species.

ALLIED SPECIES: Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Hieracium
Pilosella L.) has been introduced into Prince Edward Island
and has taken almost entire possession of some fields and ex-
tensive areas along the roadsides. It is an even worse pest than
the species mentioned above, as it produces long, running,
leafy stems on the surface of the ground, from which tufts of
roots and side shoots grow at short intervals, the latter being
densely clothed with clusters of leaves, which are smooth above,
except for some inconspicuous long white bristles, and covered
beneath with a thick felt of star-shaped hairs. The flower
heads are solitary, on slender stalks, pale yellow, over an inch
across and sweetly scented. The seed is a little longer than
that of Orange Hawkweed.

According to Dr. N. L. Britton (Flora of the Northern
States and Canada, 1901), the Prince Edward Island Mouse-ear
Hawkweed is the va,Tiety Peleterianum Mer., of HiercLcium Pilosella.
The typical form of the species is found occasionally in the other
provinces, having been introduced with European grass seeds.

Branching Hawkweed {Hieracium cladanthum Arvet-Touve,
MS.) is a persistent perennial occuring in hay meadows and
pastures in parts of Quebec and in many places in New Bruns-
wick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It is a pernicious
and aggressive weed, closely resembling Orange Hawkweed,
but having more numerous and rather smaller, pale yellow
flowers, narrow and longer leaves, and, in strong plants, tall,
flowering stems, sometimes 3 feet high, bearing a large, irregular
cluster of flower heads. The lowest branches start below the
middle of the stem, but are much elongated and raise their
clusters almost as high as those of the upper branches. On
weak plants, such as grow in hay fields, this branching habit
is less conspicuous and the form more nearly resembles that of
Orange Hawkweed.

180 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

KING DEVIL (Hieracium praealtum Gochnat var. decipiens Koch.)

Introduced from Europe. Perennial, with the general
characteristics of the hawkweeds. It bears few leaves, nearly
all at the base, and numerous slender, leafy branches running
on the surface of the ground. The whole plant is sparsely
hairy and lightly covered with a fine bloom. Basal leaves
narrow, the long flower stalk bristly hairy, supporting a spreading
corymb of yellow flowers.

The seed is similar to that of the other varieties of hawk-
weeds, a little smaller, black.

Propagation: By runners and seeds which are distributed
by the wind.

Occurrence: In the eastern provinces, abundant in south-
western New Brunswick, where it is a pest in pasture lands
and old meadows.

Injury: A pernicious weed in pastures. Like the other
hawkweeds, it is avoided by stock on account of its pungent
flavour and hairy nature. When present in any quantity, it
entails much waste of forage or fodder.

Remedy: Grass lands infested with King Devil should be
brought under cultivation and a short rotation of crops. It
does not long give serious trouble in fields under a rotation
of crops that requires frequent plowing. In rocky pastures this
pest may be treated the same as Orange Hawkweed.

Most of our hawkweeds are of relatively recent introduction
and many varieties have not yet been exactly located and
described. Their identity may occasionally prove difficult,
as there seem to be variations in the characters of some varieties.

The seeds of the different varieties are practically indistin-
guishable. They sometimes occur in grass seeds and are a
dangerous impurity. The method of eradication is the same for
all and consists mainly of a short rotation, with seeding down to
clover and grass at short intervals.

>"^>-S'r>

Plate 71

"KING Devir

Plate 72

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EXPLANATION OF BOTAMCAL TERMS.

Alternate (of leaves, etc.) — Distributed singly at different heiifhts
along the stem or branch. Not opposite.

Annual — See page 11.

Apical Scar — The mark at the free top end of a fruit, opposite the

footstalk.

Basal Scar— The mark at the point of attachment of a fruit to
its footstalk or of a seed to its vessel.

Biennial — See page 11.

Bract — A more or less modified leaf subtending a flower or

belonging to a group of flowers or to the stem.

Calyx — The outer set of leaves composing the flower, generally

green in colour.

Capsule — A variety of pod or diy fruit, opening to shed the

contained seeds.

Corolla — The inner set of leaves composing the flower, gener-

ally coloured.

Corymb — A flat-topped or convex flower cluster, flowering from

the margin inward.

Cyme — Somewhat similar to corymb, but flowering from the

centre outward.

Female Flower — The flower that bears pistils only and produces the
fruit and seeds. See " Perfect."

Free — Separate, not attached or united to similar or other

organs.

In botany the word fruit signifies the enlarged and
matured ovary, (see '"Pistil") whatever its substance
may be and whether fit to eat or not. In the small
fruits of many weeds it is sometimes difficult to decide
whether these are fruits or true seeds. In the Butter-
cup, Sunflower. Borage and Mint familias, the seed-like
bodies are really fruits, while in the Mustard, Pink,
Pea and Evening Primrose families they are true seeds.
In describing the weeds in the present publication,
it seems wise to speak of all of these as seeds, which
is the term commonly used by seedsmen, farmei-s
and others.

A dense cluster of flowers with ver}' short or no flower
stalks, resting upon the enlarged top end of a common
stalk. See "Receptacle."

Fruit-

He.

182

FARM WKKDS OF CANADA

Male Flower — The flower that bears only tlie stamens which con-
tain the pollen. See "Perfect."

Nutlet — A small nut or hard fruit, not opening to shed the

contained single seed.

Panicle — A loose, irregularly compound cluster of flowers,

borne on flower stalks.

Pappus — See page 141, under Sunflower family.

Perennial — See page 11.

Perfect Flower — A flower that bears both pistils and stamens.

Persistent — Organs remaining attached to those bearing them
after the growing period.

Pinnatifid (of leaves) — Cut like a feather, from both edges inward
to the midrib.

Pistil-

POD-

Raceme-

The female organ of the flower, consisting of the ovary,
which contains the seed, the stigma, a soft viscid part
of the pistil which receives the pollen grains, and
the sUjle which supports the stigma.

Any dry fruit, opening by valves, slits, etc., to shed
the contained seeds.

A cluster of flowers borne upon footstalks of an equal
and noticeable length, along a common stalk.

Receptacle— The enlarged top end of a flower stalk or of the foot-
stalk of a flower head. See page 141 under Sun-
flower family.

Regular Flower — With the divisions of each part uniform in shape
and structure.

RooTSTOCK — A creeping stem below the surface of the ground.

Scale— See page 23, under "The Seed."

Seed — See Fruit.

Stamen — The male organ of the flower, composed of the anther,

which holds the fertilizing pollen grains, and the
support called the filament.

Spike — An elongated flower cluster, with the flowers stalkless

or nearly so along a common stalk.

Spikelet — See page 23, first paragraph.

Tufted — See page 22, under Grass family.

Tap-root — A generally strong deep root which is the prolongation

downwards of the main stem.

Winter Annual — See page 11.

INDEX.

Acalypha virginica

Achillea Millefolium

Aconitum

Agropyron repens, 6

Agropyrum glaucum, var. oc-

ddentale

Agrostemma

Githago 19

Alsine media 18

Alsineae

AMARANTHACEAE

Amaranth, Green

Low.

Rainbow

Spreading

Amaranthus caudatus

hlitoides

graedzans

hybridus

retroflexus 16

tricolor

Amber 41

Ambrosia artemigiifolia 57

psilostachya

trifida 56

Anaphalis

Anemone, Crocus

Pennsylvanian

White

Anemone canadensis

patens, var. Wolfgangania, . . .

Annuals

Anogra pallida 42

Antennaria

Anthemis Cotula 59

Anthemideae

Plate Page
110

Antirrhinum Linaria 50

Apargia autumnalis 65

Arabia

glabra

Arctium Lappa

Lappa, var. minus 62

minus 62

Arnica (misnamed) ... 65

157
75
34

35
59
64
62
59

57

58

56

58

56

58

58

57

56

56

112

152

153

150

147

75

75

75

75

75

11

114

147

156

156

134

168
101
101
163
162
162
168

Artemisia

biennis

frigida

hidoviciana. . .
Artichoke, Wild.

Pl-vte Page
159
159
159

159
. . 155

ASCLEPIADACEAE.

Asdepias incamata. . . .

syriaca

tuberosa

^ Aster eae

Asters

Astragalus

Atriplex

August Flower 65

Arena falua 3

var. glabrata 3

glabrescens 3

Avicularia

AxyT^ amarantoides 14

Barbarea vulgaris

Bardane 62

Barley, wad 7

Bartsia, Red

Baughlan 61

Bean, Golden

Beaver Poison 43

Bedstraw Family

Bedstraw. Northern

Beggar-ticks

Beggar-tick, Common

Behen vulgaris 22

Bidens

frondosa

Biennials

Bindweed 44

Black 12

European 44

Field 44

Great

Hedge

Small 44

Upright

119

119
119
119

143

145
108
50
168
28
28
28
41
52

101
162
36
133
160
107
116

140

140
155
155

70
155
155

11
120
41,48
120
120
121
121
120
121

184

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Plate Page

Bitterweed, (Fleabane) 54 146

" (Great Ragweed). 56 150

Black-eyed Susan 58 154

Blood-staunch 54 146

Blue Devil 47 126

Blue Sailors 64 166

Blue-thistle 47 126

Blue Weed 47 123, 126

Boneset 143

Borage Family 123

BORAGINACEAE 123

Bouncing Bet 73

Brassica arvensis 33 92

campestris 93

juncea. 93

Napus 93

nigra 93

orientalis 34 94

perfoliata 34 94

Rapa 93

Sinapistrum 33 92

Bromus hordeaceus 31

secalinus 4 30

tectorum 31

Buckhom 52 138

Buckwheat Family 40

Buckwheat, Wild 12 48

Bugloss, Viper's 47 126

Bur, Blue 46 124

Common 124

Sheep 46 124

Burdock, Common 62 162

Great 163

Lesser 62 162

Bursa-pastoris 29 84

Butter and Eggs 50 134

Buttercup Family 75

Buttercup, Cursed 77

Meadow 25 76

Small-flowered 77

Tall 25 76

Butterfly Weed 119

Butterweed 54 146

Cabbage, Hare's-ear 34 94

Cactus, Russian 15 54

Cadluck 33 , 92

" (misnamed) 32 90

Plate Page

Camelina dentata 87

macrocarpa 30 86

microcarpa 87

saliva 30 86

Campion, Bladder 22 70

Red 67

White 20 66

Caper Family 102

CAPP ARID ACE AE 102

Capsella Bursa-pastoris 29 84

Caraway 118

Carex trichocarpa, var. aristata . . 39

Carduus arvensis 63 164

Carrot, Wild 118

Carum Carvi 118

CARYOPHYLLACEAE 59

Catchfly, Conical 69

Garden 69

Night-flowering 21 68

Sleepy 69

Small-flowered 69

Catnip 130

Cat's-foot 147

Celosia 56

Centaurea 166

nigra 166

Cerastium 63

arvense 63

vulgatum 63

Chaetochloa viridis 1 24

Chamaeraphis viridis 1 24

Chamomile 157

Dog's 59 156

Charlock 33 92

Jointed 32 90

Cheat 4 30

Cheeses Ill

CHENOPODIACEAE 50

Chenopodium 50

album 13 50

hybridum 52

Chess 4 30

Slender 31

Soft 31

Chickweed 18 62

Common 18 62

Common Mouse-ear 63

Field, Mouse-ear 63

INDEX

185

Plate Page

Chickweeds 59

Mouse-ear 63

Chicory, Family 142

Chicory 64 166

Wild 64 166

Chinaman's Greens 16 56

Chrysanthemum Leucanthe-

Ttinm, var. pinnatifidum ... 60 158

Chrysocoma graminifolia 53 144

Cichoricae 166

Cichoriaceae 142

Cichorium Intybus 64 166

Cicuta Dauglasii 117

maculata 43 116

occidenialis 117

vagans 117

virosa, var. maculata 43 116

Cinquefoil, Rough 39 106

Upright 39 106

Cirsium arvense 63 164

lanceolatum 165

undulatum 165

Clammy-weed 102

Claviceps 38

purpurea 8 38

Cleome serrulata 102

Clotburs 153

Clotbur 62 162

Spring 153

Clover, Rabbit 's-foot 107

Stinking 102

Clovers, Sweet 107

Clown's Heal 49 132

Cnicus arvensis 63 164

Cockhead 49 132

Cockleburs 153

Cockle, China 23 72

Com 19 64

Cow 23 72

Purple 19 64

Sticky 21 68

^Tiite 20 66

Cockles 59

Cockscombs 56

Colewort 67 172

Colt's-tail 54 146

Compass Plant 68 174

Plate Page

COMPOSITAE 141

Composites, Strap-flowered. ... 142

Tube-flowered 142

Cone Flower 58 154

Conringia orierUalis 34 94

CONVOLVULACEAE 120

Convolvulus Family 120

Convolvulus arvengis 44 120

sepium 121

spithamaeus 121

Coris 54 146

Corydalis aurea 77

Cowbane 43 116

Spotted 43 116

Cow-beU 22 70

Cowherb 23 72

CRASSULACEAE 103

Cress, Cow 83

Crowfoot, Ditch 77

TaU 25 76

Crownweed 56 150

CRUCIFERAE 77

Cucubalus Behen 22 70

Cuscuia 123

Epiihymum 45 122

Trifolii 45 122

Cuscuteae 120

Cutweeds 147

Cynareae 162

Cynoglossum officinale 124

CYPERACEAE 39

Cyperus diandrus 39

esculentus 39

Daisy, Ox-eye 60 158

Ox-eye (misnamed) 58 154

Orange 58 154

White 60 158

Yellow. . . . -. 58 154

Dandehon, Common 169

FaU 65 168

Red-seeded 169

Darnel, Bearded 5 32

Common 5 32

186

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Plate Page

Poison 5 32

White 5 32

Daucus Carota 118

Delphinium 75

Digitalis 133

Dock, Bitter 43

Clustered 43

Curled 9 42, 43

Sour 9 42

Veined 43

Yellow 9 42

Docks 40

Dodder, Alfalfa 123

Clover 45 122

Lesser 45 122

Thyme 45 122

Dodders 120

Dog Fennel 59 156

Doorweed 41, 47

Draba caroliniana 79

nemorosa 26 78

verna 79

Dracocephalum parviflorum. . ." . 131

Dragonhead, American 131

Dusty Miller 67

Drummond's Pink 67

Echinospermum Lappula. ... 46 124

Echium 123

vulgare 47 126

Eggs and Bacon 50 134

Elecampane 147

Epilohium 113

adenocaulon 113

angusti/olium 113

Erechtites hieraci/olia 162

Ergot on Couch, Rye and

Timothy 8 38

Erigeron annuus 146

canadensis 54 146

ramosus 147

Eruca saliva 94

Erysimum, Small 101

Erysimum asperum 101

cheiranthoides 37 100

orientale 34 94

parviflorum 101

Eupatorieae 142

Eupatorium perfoliatum 143

purpureum 142

urticaefolium 143

Plate Page

EUPHORBIACEAE 110

Euphorbia corollaia Ill

glyptosperma Ill

Helioscopia 110

maculaia Ill

Euphrasia arctica 133

Euthamia graminifolia 53 144

Evening Primrose Family. . .. 113

Evening Primrose, Common. . .. 115

White 42 114

White-stemmed 42 114

Everlastings 147

True 147

Explanation of Botanical

Terms 181

Eyebright, Glandular 133

False Flax 30 86

Round-seeded 87

Small-seeded 87

Farm Implements to Destroy

Weeds 19

Fat-hen 13 50

FiGWORT Family 133

Figworts 133

Fireweed 162

" (Common Fleabane) 54 146

(Great Willow-herb) .. 113

Sticky 113

Fireweeds 113

Fitches 109

Flaxweed 50 134

Fleabane, Common 54 146

Daisy 146

Rough Daisy 147

Foxglove 133

Foxtail, Green 1 24

Yellow 25

Foxtail (misnamed) 7 36

French Weed 27 80

FUMARIACEAE 77

Fumitory Family 77

Fumitory, Golden 77

Galeopsis Tetrahit 48 130

GaUngale 39

Galium 140

Galium boreale 140

INDEX

187

Plate Page

General Principles 15

Glycyrrhiza lepidota 108

Gnaphalium 147

Goat's Beard, Yellow 169

Gold of Pleasure 30 86

Goldenrod, Bushy 53 144

Canada 145

Fragrant 53 144

Narrow-leaved 53 144

Smooth 145

Tall 145

Tall Hairy 145

Golden Jerusalem 58 154

GoosEFOOT Family 50

Goosef oot, Map le-leaved 52

White 13 50

GRAMINEAE 22

Grass Family 22

Grass, Blue Joint 35

Bottle 1 24

Couch 6 34

" (misnamed) 2 26

Holy 2 26

Old-witch 25

Panic 25

Pigeon 1 24

Poison rye 5 32

Poverty 40

Quack 6 34

" (misnamed) 2 26

Quitch 6 34

Scutch 6 34

Seneca 2 26

Skunk 7 36

Skunk-tail 7 36

Squirrel-tail 7 36

Sweet 2 26

Tickle 7 36

Twitch 6 34

Vanilla 2 26

Vernal ■ 79

Western Couch 35

"VMiitlow, Carolina 79

Wood 26 78

Yellow 26 78

Grindelia squarrosa 143

Gromwell, Com 127

Field 127

Groimdsel, Common 161

Stinking 161

Platk Page

Gum Plant 143

Gumweed 143

Hardback 38 104

Hawkbit, Autmnnal. : 168

Hawkweed, Branching 179

Mouse-ear 179

Orange 70 178

Heal-aU 131

Heliantheae 148

Helianthus doronicoides 155

MaximUiani 155

scaberrimus 155

Helenieae 165

Helenium aiUumnale 155

Hemlock, Water 43 116

Oregon 117

Purple-stemmed . . 117

Wyoming 117

Hemp, Bastard 48 130

Herb-John 41 112

Herrick 33 92

Hieracium aurantiacum 70 178

cladanthum 179

Pilosella 179

var. Peleterianum 179

■praeaUum, var. dedpiens . . 71 180

Hierochloa borealis 2 26

Hierochloe odorata 2 26

Hogweed 57 152

Holcus odoratus 2 26

Hordeum jvbatum 7 36

Horsehead 147

Horseweed 54 146

Horse Weed 175

Hound's Tongue 124

HYPERICACEAE 112

Hypericum Asq/ron 113

eUipticum 113

perforatum 41 112

punctatum 113

Indian Hay 2 26

Imda Helenium 147

InuLeae 147

Ironweeds 142

Iva axillaris 55 148

xanthifolia 149

Ivray 5 32

Ixophorus viridis 1 24

188

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Plate Page

Joe-Pye Weed 142

JUNCACEAE 40

J uncus tenuis 40

Kale, Field 33 92

" (misnamed) 32 90

King Devil 71 180

Kingweed 56 150

Klinkweed 34 94

Knapweeds 166

Knapweed, Common 166

Knotweed 47

Knotweeds 40, 41

LABIATAE 129

Lactuca canadensis 175

pulchella 69 176

scariola, var. integrata 68 174

virosa 68 174

Lady's Thumb 11 41, 46

Lamb's Quarters 13 50

Lappa minor 62 162

Lappula echinata 46 124

Lappula 46 124

virginiana 125

Larkspurs 75

LEGUMINOSAE 107

Leontodon autumnalis 65 168

Lepidium apetalum . 28 82

campestre 83

intermedium 28 82

Leptilon Canadense 54 146

Lettuce, Blue 69 176

Large-flowered . . 69 172

Hare's 67 176

Prickly 68 174

Showy 69 176

Wild 175

Leticanthemum vulgare 60 158

Ldguliflorae 142

Linaria Linaria 50 134

vulgaris 50 133-4

Liquorice, Wild 108

lAthospermum arvense 127

Live-for-ever 103

Loco Weed 108

Loco Weeds 107

Lolium arvense 5 32

temulentum 5 32

Love-lies-bleeding 56

Love Vine 45 122

Plate Page

Lychnis, Evening 20

Lychnis alha 20

chalcedonica

coronaria

dioica

Drummondii

Flos-cuculi

Githago 19

vespertina 20

Lygodesmia juncea

Madder Family

Madder. Field

Mallow Family

Mallow, Common

Common Round-leaf

MALVACEAE

Malva rotundifolia

Mare's-tail 54

Marigold, Bur

Marsh-elder, Small-flowered. . 55

Maruta Cotula 59

Matricaria inodora

Mayweed 59

Scentless

Stinking 59

Meadow Sweet

Medicago arabica

hispida

lupulina

Medick, Black

Spotted

Toothed

Melandrium noctiflorum 21

Melilotus alba

officinalis

Mercury, Three-seeded

Milfoil

Milkweed Family

Milkweed, Common

Swamp

Thistle 67

Milkweeds

Milky Tassel

Mint Family

Mint, Hairy 49

Monkshoods

Morning Glory Family

Morning Glory, Small-flowered 44

66
66
67
67
67
67
67
64
66
177

140

140

1]
11
1]

1]

146

155

148

156

157

156

157

156

105

108

108

108

108

108

108

68
107
107
110
157
119
119
119
172
119
172
129
132

75
120
120

Plate

MvJgedium acuminatum 69

pulchellum 69

Mulleins

Musk Flower

Musquash Root 43

Mustard Family

Mustard, Ball 31

Balloon 30

Black

Hare's-ear 34

Hedge

Indian

Mithridate 27

Ontario 33

Tansy, Crowded

Cut-leaved 36

Gray

Green 36

Tower

Treacle 37

Tumble 35

Tumbling 35

Wild 33

" (misnamed) 32

Worm-seed 37

Myagrum ■paniculatum 31

sativum 30

Myosotis Lappula 46

Nepeta Cataria

Neslia 31

N^eslia paniculata 31

Nettle, Bee 48

Blind 48

Dead 49

Dog 48

Hedge 49

Hemp 48

Dead 48

Stinging 48

Nettle-wild 48

Nigger Head 58

Nutgrass

Oats, Wild 3

Odontites rubra

Oenothera albicaulis 42

biennis

pallida 42

ONAGRACEAE

Orpine Family

INDEX 189

Page Plate Page

176 Ox-tongue 168

176 Oxytropis 107

133 LambeHi 108

133

, ,p Paint-brush 70 178

Devil's 70 178

77 Panicum 25

88 capillare 25

86 viride 1 24

^^ Parsley Family 115

94

Q- Parsnip, Water (misnamed) ... 116

gg Wild 118

CQ Pastinaca sativa 118

92 Pea F.^MiLY 107

99 Pea, Wild 40 108

98 Penny Cress 27 80

99 Penny-John 41 112

98 . Peppergrass 28 82

101 Field 83

100 Perennials 11

96 Persicaria 41

96 Persicary 11 46

92 Dockleaved 11 47

90 Glandular 47

100 Pale 11 47

88 Pickpurse 17 60

86 Picris echioides 168

124 Pigeon Weed 127

130 Pigweed F.\mily 56

88 Pigweed 13 50

88 Redroot 16 56

130 Rough 16 56

130 Russian 14 52

132

joQ Pink Family 59

132 Pitch-forks 155

130 PLANT AGIX ACE AE 135

^^ Plantago aristata 139

^^^ lanceolata 52 138

major 51 136

^^ media 139

^^ Rugelii 137

28 Plantain F.\mily 135

^^^ Plantain, Birdseed 51 136

^^t Bracted 139

^^^ Broad-leaf 51 136

^^^ Common 51 136

113 Dooryard 51 136

103 English 52 138

190

FARM WEEDS OF CANADA

Plate Page

Greater 51 136

Hoary 139

Pale 137

Pleurisy-root 119

Polanisia graveolens . . 102

POLYGON ACEAE 40

Polygonum 40

aviculare 41, 47

Convolvulus 12 41, 48

lapathifolium 11 47

pennsylvanicum 47

Persicaria 11 41, 46

Portulaca grandiflora 73

oleracea 24 74

Portulaca, Wild 24 74

PORTULACACEAE 73

Potentilla 106

Anserina 107

hirsuta 39 106

monspeliensis 39 106

var. norvegica 106

Poverty Weed 55 148

Prideweed 54 146

Prunella vulgaris 131

Purslane Family 73

Purslane 24 74

Milk Ill

Pusley 24 74

Rabbit-ear 34 94

Radish, Jointed 32 90

Wild 32 90

Ragged Robin 67

Ragweed, Common 57 152

False 149

Great 56 150

Perennial 153

Smaller 57 152

Tall 56 150

Ragwort, Common 61 160

Tansy 61 160

Ramsted 134

RANUNCULACEAE 75

Ranunculus abortivus 77

acris 25 76

sceleratus 77

Rape 93

Bird 93

German 93

Raphanus Raphanistrum 32 90

Rattle Weed 22 70

Plate Page

Red Root 127

Rhinanthus Crista-galli 133

Ribgrass 52 138

Ribwort Family 135

Ribwort 52 138

Rock Cresses 101

Rocket 94

Prairie 101

Salad 94

Yellow 101

Rosa adcularis, var. Bour-

geauiana 104

arkansana 103

pratincola 103

ROSACEAE 103

Rose Family 103

Rose (St. Johns-wort) 41 112

Roses, Prairie 103

Rose Moss 73

Rosin 41 112

Rotation of Crops, Short 17

Rough Weed 49 132

RUBIACEAE 140

Rudheckia hirta 58 154

Rumex 40

Acetosa 45

Acetosella 10 44

congloineratus 43

crispus 9 42, 43

obtusifolius 43

venosus 43

Rush Family 40

Rush, Slender 40

Rutabaga 93

Sage Brushes 159

Lesser Pasture 159

Pasture 159

Sweet 159

Salsify 169

Salsola 50

Salsola Kali, var. tenuifolia. .15 54

var. Tragus. ... 15 54

Tragus 15 54

Sandweed .17 60

Saponaria 59

officinalis 73

Vaccaria 23 72

Savastana odorata 2 26

Scarlet IJghtning 67

INDEX

191

Plate Page

SCROPHULARIACEAE 133

Scutch 6 34

Sedge Family 39

Sedge, Awned 39

Sedum purpureum 103

Seeding to Grass 18

Self-heal 131

Senecioneae 160

Senecio Jacobaea 61 160

viscostis 161

vulgaris 161

Setaria glauca 25

viridis 1 24

Sheep destroy Weeds 18

Shepherd's Purse 29 84

Sherardia arvensis 140

Sida spinosa Ill

Sileneae 59

Silene 69

antirrhina 69

Armeria 69

conica 69

Cucubalus 22 70

gaUica 69

inflata ". 22 70

latifolia 22 70

noctiflora 21 68

prateTisis 20 66

vulgaris 22 70

Silkweed 119

Silkweeds 119

Silverweed 107

Sin-apis arvensis 33 92

Sisymbrium, Tall 35 96

Sisymbrium altissimum 35 96

incisum, var. Hartwegianum . . 99

var. fiiipes 36 98

officinale 97

pannonicum 35 96

sinajristrum 35 96

Skeleton Weed 177

Smartweed 11 46

Smartweeds 40, 41

Snakeroot, White 143

Snapdragon, Wild 134

Sneezeweed 155

Solidago canadensis 145

graminifolia 53 144

lanceolata 53 144

rugosa 145

Plate Page

serotina 145

Sonchus arvensis 66 170

asper 173

oleraceus 67 172

pulchellus 69 176

Sophia incisa 36 98

Sorrel, Field 10 44

Garden 45

Red 10 44

Sheep 10 44

Sour-grass 10 44

Speedwells 133

Spergula arvensis 17 60

Spider-flower 102

Spinach Family 50

Spiny Sida Ill

Spiraea salicifolia 105

tomentosa 38 104

Spurge Family 110

Spurge, Flowering Ill

Ridge-seeded Ill

Sun 110

Spurrey 17 60

Com 17 60

St. James'-wort 61 160

St. John's- wort Family 112

St. John's-wort, Common ... 41 112

Corymbed 113

Great '. . .. 113

Pale 113

Spotted 113

Stachys palustris 49 132

Staggerwort, 61 160

Steeple Bush 38 104

Stellaria graminea 63

media 18 62

Stickseed 46 124

Stickweed 46 124

Virginian 125

Stinking Willie 61 160

Stinkweed 27 80

Stitchwort, Grass-leaved 63

Lesser 63

Succory, Wild 64 166

Summer Fallowing 15

SriNFLOWER Family 141

Sunflower, Black-headed 154

False 155

Prairie, Many-flowered 155

. Wild 154

192

FARM WI<:p:dS of CANADA

Plate Page

Swinies 67 172

Tanacetum vulgare 159

Tansy, Common 159

False 159

Taraxacum erythrospermum . . .. 169

officinale 169

Tare, Cultivated 109

Wild 40 108

Thapsus 133

Thermopsis 107

Thistle, Bull 165

Western. 165

Canada 63 164

Creeping 63 164

Field, Soft 63 164

Milk 67 172

Prairie ' 165

Russian 15 54

" (misnamed) 66 170

Sow, Annual 67 172

Common 67 172

Com 66 170

Creeping 66 170

Fipld 66 170

Perennial 66 170

Prickly 173

Spiny-leaved 173

Spear 165

Weed Milk. . 68 174

Thlaspi arvense 27 80

Bursa-pastoris 29 84

Tiniaria 41

Toad Flax 50 133, 134

Yellow. 50 134

Tragopogon porrifoUus 169

pratensis 169

Trefoil, Yellow 108

Trifolium arvense. 107

Triticum repens 6 34

Tubulifiorae 142

Tumble Weed 58

Russian 15 54

Turnip 93

Wild 32 90

Twitch 6 34

UMBELLIFERAE 115

Vaccaria Vaccaria 23 72

vulaaris 23 72

VERBENACEAE 128

Verbena angustifolia 128

hastata 128

urttcaefolia 128

Plate Page

Vemonieae 142

Vernonia 142

Veronica 133

Vervain Family 128

Vervain, Blue 128

Narrow-leaved 128

White 128

Vetch, Common 40 108

Hairy 110

Spring 109

Tufted, Purple . . 109

Wild 40 108

Winter 110

Vetches 109

Milk 108

Vieia angustifolia 40 108

Cracca 109

saliva 109

Villosa 110

Wallflower, Western 101

Wax-ball 110

Weed, what is a 8

Weeds, classification of 10

control and extermination of . . 13

distributed in space 12

in time 11

how they spread 10

losses due to 8

Weed seeds in commercial

seeds and feeding stuffs .... 21

Weed seeds in the soil 12

Wheat Thief (Chess) 4 30

" (Pigeon Weed). .. 127

White Bottle 22 70

White Weed 60 158

Willow-herbs 113

Willow-herb, Great 113

Winter annuals 11

Wormwood, Roman 57 152

Wormwoods 159

Woundwort 49 132

Woundwort, Clown's 49 132

Xanthium 153

spinosum 153

Yarrow 157

Yellow Rattle 133

Yellow Star 155

Yellow-weed (Ball Mustard).. 31 88

Yellow Weed (Yellow Rocket) . . 101

" (Goldenrod) , . . 53 144

'f

r

SB

Canada, Deut, of

613

Agriculture

C2M

Farm weeds of Canada

1923

2d ed, , rev. and enl .

cop. 2

Bolanf

1

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE

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