The Clearwater Resource Council is committed to eradicating invasive weeds in the Clearwater Valley. We have compiled a list of information and resources pertinent to weed management in the Valley.
(To see many of the weeds, either scroll down the page or click on a weed name in the side bar, depending on which is available.)
Please take some time to look through the resources below and learn how to better identify, manage, and eradicate weeds on your property.
Resources:
Euphorbia esula
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Long and narrow, usually drooping.
Stems: Branched near top, hairless, entire plant contains milky white sap.
Flowers: Inconspicuous, surrounded by large heart-shaped floral leaves that turn yellow green near maturity.
Roots: Vertical and horizontal. Main vertical roots can penetrate 26 feet deep. Horizontal rhizomatous roots, near soil surface, extend outward from the parent plant 15 feet per year.
Seeds: Produces up to 140 seeds per plant, viable up to 8 years or longer. Projects seeds up to 15 feet from the base of the plant. Seeds float on water.
Reproduces: By seed and by bud. Large number of buds on each root. Each bud is capable of producing a new, independent plant.
Habitat: Riparian areas to dry hills.
Cynoglossum officinale
Growth Habitat: Biennial, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Velvety to touch, lower end is broad, upper end is narrow and clasps the stem.
Stems: Heavy, erect, and branched above.
Flowers: Dark red to purple, 1/4 inch in diameter, grows in clusters. Native houndstongue has a blue flower.
Roots: Taproot.
Seeds: Produces 300-675 seeds per plant, viable up to 2-3 years.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Found in pastures, roadsides, and waste areas.
Iris pseudoacorus
Growth Habitat: Herbaceous perennial, grows 3-4 feet tall.
Leaves: Long, linear, dark green, emerging in fan-like arrangement, smooth-edged, flattened, and sword-like with a pointed tip.
Stems: Several flowers are born on erect flower stalks.
Flowers: Large pale to deep yellow with three downward pointing and two upward pointing petals. Some petals have light brown to purple veins or flecks.
Roots: Rhizomatous root system.
Seeds: Each fruit contains many flat brown seeds.
Reproduces: By seeds and rhizomes.
Habitat: Wetland species that grows in water up to 10 inches deep.
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum
Growth Habitat: Perennial, erect up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves: 2-5 inches long, leaves reduce in size upward on the stem.
Stems: Glabrous to slightly pubescent.
Flowers: One per stem, 1-1/2 inches wide, white petals with yellow centers.
Roots: Shallow, branched rhizomes, and strong adventitious roots.
Seeds: Produces up to 26,000 seeds per plant, viable up to 6 years.
Reproduces: By seed and vegetatively along a rhizome.
Habitat: Found in meadows, roadsides, native grasslands, pastures, and waste places.
Linaria vulgaris
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows 8 to 24 inches tall.
Leaves: Numerous, alternate, long, narrow leaves pointed at both ends. Pale green to grey-green color, individually connected to the stem.
Stems: Flowers grow on short stalks in dense clusters at the top of stems.
Flowers: Snapdragon yellow flowers with an orange throat and a downward pointing yellow spur one inch long.
Roots: Can penetrate 3 feet or more into the soil, lateral roots can be several yards long.
Seeds: Produces up to 8,700 seeds per plant, viable up to 10 years.
Reproduces: By seeds and rhizomes. Most vegetative reproduction is associated with lateral roots.
Habitat: Wide variety of conditions due to its high genetic variability. Disturbed, open habitats.
Centaurea maculosa
Growth Habitat: Biennial or short-lived perennial, grows 1-3 feet tall.
Leaves: Long and divided on lower, short and narrow above, covered with fine hairs.
Stems: Erect with slender wiry branches, covered with fine hairs.
Flowers: On branched stem tips, flowers are pink to purple, rarely white. The seed has black-tipped bracts.
Roots: Taproot, and well-developed, fibrous.
Seeds: Produces 1,000 seeds per plant, viable up to 9 years.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Found in meadows, roadsides, native grasslands, pastures, and waste places.
Hieracium pratense (yellow) and H. aurantiacum (orange)
Growth Habitat: Creeping perennials that contain a milky sap.
Leaves: Basal rosettes have hairy, harrow, spatula-shaped leaves that are dark green above and light green below.
Stems: One rosette can produce 10-25 flowering stems that can grow up to 3 feet tall. Stems have short, stiff hairs and may have one to three small, clasping leaves below the midpoint of the stem.
Flowers: 5 to 30 bright yellow, dandelion-like flowers make up the inflorescence.
Roots: Shallow, fibrous, and creeping. One flowering plant can produce 4 to 12 leafy stolons that can reach lengths of 4 to 12 inches. Vigorous stolon growth quickly expands the colony, forming dense patches that can have as many as 3,200 plants per square yard.
Seeds: Viable up to 7 years.
Reproduces: By seeds, rhizomes, stolons, and adventitious root buds. Reproduces asexually.
Habitat: Found in moist pastures, forest meadows, abandoned fields, clearcuts, and roadsides.
Potentilla recta
Growth Habitat: Long-lived perennial, grows 12 to 18 inches tall.
Leaves: Palmate compound, 7 leaflets, stiff hairs on underside, yellowish green.
Stems: Covered in hairs that are twice the length of the stem at right angles, many leaves along stem but few at base, branched near the top.
Flowers: 1/2-inch to one-inch diameter, pale yellow.
Roots: Single taproot, may have several shallow spreading branch roots, no rhizomes.
Seeds: Produces up to 1,650 seeds per plant, viable up to 3 years. Plants can live up to 20-30 years.
Reproduces: By seed and vegetatively along a rhizome.
Habitat: Found in meadows, roadsides, native grasslands, pastures, and waste places.
Ranunculus acris
Growth Habitat: Hairy perennial forb, grows up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves: Hairy leaves are deeply lobed (nearly to the base) into 3-5 segments with each segment lobed again. Leaves decrease in size upward on the stem.
Stems: Branched hairy stems each produce single flowers in loose clusters.
Flowers: Glossy yellow flowers are 3/4 to one inch in diameter with a greenish center.
Roots: Coarse, fibrous.
Seeds: Produces many seeds that are dark brown and about 2cm long. Seeds have rounded head, with a hooked beak, and are pitted and flattened with a spiny face.
Reproduces: By seed.
Habitat: Found in meadows and pastures.
Cirsium arvense
Growth Habitat: Perennial, grows up to 4 feet tall.
Leaves: Deeply toothed with spines, hairy on underside, varies from plant to plant.
Stems: Smooth to slightly hairy, branched at top.
Flowers: Small bristly cluster, 3/8 to 5/8 inches in diameter, light lavender to deep rose purple, male or female.
Roots: Extensive creeping horizontal roots up to 16 feet long and 2 to 22 feet deep.
Seeds: Produces 9,300 seeds per plant, viable up to 22 years.
Reproduces: Vegetatively from horizontal creeping roots or from seeds.
Habitat: Found in meadows, roadsides, native grasslands, pastures, and waste places.
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Mailing address: Clearwater Resource Council, P.O. Box 1471, Seeley Lake, MT 59868
Office Location: 3166 MT Hwy 83, Ste 202, Seeley Lake, MT 59868 (in the Bison & Bear Center)
For additional information contact Jon Haufler ( jon@crcmt.org)
or by phone: 406-677-0069 (CRC Office)