Quackgrass
(Elytrigia repens, Agropyron repens, Elymus repens)
Perennial Grasses
Habitat Characteristics
Quackgrass is a weed of most agronomic and horticultural crops as well as turf, nurseries, and landscapes. It grows in cultivated fertile soil.
Identification
A rhizomatous perennial that generally grows erect, bending at the nodes. The leaves are rolled in the bud and the blades are wide, flat, hairy to smooth on the upper surface and smooth on the lower surface. The sheaths are rounded and smooth, but those near the base of the plant may have short hairs. The collar is broad and whitish. The fibrous roots arise at the nodes of the long, sharp-tipped rhizomes. The seed head is a long spike
Life history
This perennial grass remains green year-round. Individual rootstocks live only two summers and one winter but new ones develop from buds in the axils of reduced leaves. Roots arise only at nodes. Plants flower in June and July. Quackgrass seeds may lie dormant in the soil for several years.
Management
Cultural Techniques
- Digging and carefully removing all rhizomes will effectively eliminate single plants and small infestations.
- The roots should not be broken up. Individual root pieces may produce new plants. Cultivation often spreads quackgrass infestations by breaking up and dragging rhizomes.
Chemical Techniques
- See weed-herbicide matrix for effective and available herbicides.
Web References
USDA – NRCS Plant Profile, Quackgrass
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ELRE4
University of California IPM, Weed Gallery, Quackgrass
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/quackgrass.html
Invasive Species, The Source for Information and Images of Invasive & Exotic Species, Quackgrass
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=5579
B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Quackgrass
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/quackg.htm
Weeds B.C., Quackgrass
http://www.weedsbc.ca/weed_desc/quack.html
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