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King County, Washington

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‘milk thistle_dan_2018_1’

Published June 5, 2018 at 1504 × 2016 in Noxious weeds to watch for in June

Milk thistle’s large, pink-purple flower head with broad, spiny bracts around its base. Photo by Dan Sorensen.

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Touch-me-nots got you confused? Also called jewelweed, these two large species of Impatiens were introduced to the Pacific Northwest by gardeners who meant well, but opened a Pandora’s box of problems for native plants and habitat on creeks and dappled woodlands in our region. The orange flowered one, spotted jewelweed, is highly beneficial in the eastern United States where it is native and provides food for hummingbirds. The pink-purple one, called policeman’s helmet or Himalayan balsam, is a delightful plant in its native range in India. However, in our neck of the woods, both species can overwhelm creek side plants and create dense monocultures that don’t provide the same habitat diversity as the native plants they replace. Policeman’s helmet is especially problematic because it’s so tall that it can reduce shrub layer species that do a better job reducing erosion. Policeman’s helmet, the purple one, is a regulated noxious weed in King County because it’s limited enough that we can hope to contain it. Please let us know if you see it, report online through our website link in bio. Spotted jewelweed is not regulated because it is too widespread and also it can be confused with some native orange jewelweeds, so get an expert ID before removing it to avoid pulling native plants out by mistake. Photos by Skye Pelliccia. #jewelweed #touchmenot #impatiens #impatienscapensis #impatiensglandulifera

Chop it and bag it! Tansy ragwort in seed means at least 15 more years of new plants! It’s toxic to livestock, it spreads like crazy, it makes a zillion seeds that blow far and wide, and it’s a Class B noxious weed in Washington. Your neighbors will thank you if you keep it from spreading and so will we! Video and demo by Tom Erler. #bagitup #tansyragwort #weedcontrol #stopitbeforeitstoolate #toxicplants

Too much tansy ragwort for one hungry caterpillar! These cute cinnabar caterpillars are helping as best they can but they can’t keep up with the onslaught of tansy ragwort flowers. If you see a plump little guy like this one, just shake it off the tansy when you’re pulling it and it will find its way to another or just go pupate and start mothing. Tansy ragwort is toxic to horses, cattle, and other livestock. Eating even small amounts can damage their livers and over time it can kill them. Please help by pulling up flowering plants, roots and all, and then cutting off and bagging up the flowering tops for disposal with garbage. King County residents can email us for free disposal at transfer stations, noxious.weeds@kingcounty.gov (sorry Seattle residents, this won’t work for you, contact us for ideas if you’re stuck with a lot of tansy ragwort). Photo by Skye Pelliccia. #cinnabar #cinnabarcaterpillar #tansyragwort #jacobaeavulgaris #toxicplants #pastureweeds #horsesafety

Copycats! Two native plants flanking a noxious weed. Left to right: Douglas spiraea (hardback), purple loosestrife, fireweed. All in flower right now so easily confused. Purple loosestrife is a tall perennial with compact spikes of little flowers, squarish stems, mostly opposite leaves that are not toothed on the edges. Spiraea is a woody shrub with shorter leaves, toothed on the edges, alternate leaves, and “fuzzy” flower spikes (stamens stick out past the petals). Fireweed has looser flower spikes, larger flowers, alternate leaves, more or less round stems, and fluffy seeds that come out of long narrow pods. All three are popular with bees 🐝 but purple loosestrife also unfortunately 😢 fills in open wet areas, crowds out more beneficial species needed by wildlife, and generally does not play well with others where it’s been introduced outside of its native range in Europe. Photo by Skye Pelliccia. #copycats #lookalikes #purpleloosestrife #spirea #douglasspirea #chamaenerionangustifolium #spiraeadouglasii #lithrumsalicaria #epilobiumangustifolium #wetlands

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