SDSU guide: Noxious Weeds of South Dakota
An updated guide to noxious weeds of South Dakota is available online at a South Dakota State University Web site.
South Dakota Cooperative Extension Special Series 34, “Noxious Weeds of South Dakota,” features color photographs to help in identification. Find it online at this link:
http://agbiopubs.sdstate.edu/articles/ESS34.pdf.
Hard copies will be available later this summer in county Extension or weed and pest supervisor offices.
SDSU Extension Weeds Specialist Mike Moechnig said more than 4 million acres in South Dakota are infested with noxious weeds in South Dakota, causing losses of more than $140 million annually.
The guide summarizes information about Canada thistle, leafy spurge, perennial sowthistle, hoary cress, purple loosestrife, saltcedar, and Russian knapweed, all of which are considered noxious statewide.
In addition the guide discusses “local noxious weeds” that pose problems in some areas of the state. Those include spotted knapweed, diffuse knapweed, musk thistle, plumeless thistle, bull thistle, Scotch thistle, field bindweed, absinth wormwood, Dalmatian toadflax, yellow toadflax, houndstongue, common tansy, St. Johnswort, puncturevine, common mullein, common burdock, giant knotweed, chicory, and poison hemlock. Sulfur cinquefoil, which can be a problem in pastures and grasslands in western South Dakota, has been added this year as a local noxious perennial weed. Sulfur cinquefoil has light yellow flowers with yellow centers, and the five petals of the flower have notches at the tip. Refer to the guide for tips on how to distinguish it from similar cinquefoil species that are not considered noxious.
European common reed, a locally noxious weed added in 2008, is worth singling out because it sometimes poses identification problems, Moechnig said. It closely resembles the native common reed often seen in wet areas around eastern South Dakota, which is not considered a restricted noxious weed. Unlike the native common reed, European common reed can be highly invasive and dominate marsh areas or riparian habitats. A few infestations have been identified in western and eastern South Dakota, but patches are not currently widespread across the state.