Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
SICKLY: Here lies a very sick spotted knapweed plant in Jefferson County. Note how tall last year's old dead stems are and how the plant this year is very short and has few flowers on it. This plant will very likely be dead before next summer. Knapweed root-boring weevils caused this damage and are controlling knapweed in many areas throughout Montana.
The Montana state-designated noxious weed, spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe or Centaurea maculosa), which invaded from Eurasia, has a weakness. Unfortunately, knapweed has many weedy strengths as well. These strengths include:
1) producing 1,000-120,000 seeds per year that can stay viable in the soil for 8 or more years,
2) being an invader species that can rapidly spread in newly disturbed areas,
3) producing an allelopathic chemical (catechin) that prevents the germination and growth of other plants around it,
4) resistant to drought because of its deep tap root,
5) is not palatable to our...
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