Pesticide License 3A and 7A Pest ID

Annual bluegrass

• Winter annual

Leaf blade: Folded in the bud, glossy, light green.

Sheath: Slightly compressed and smooth.

Ligule: Medium long, pointed, white and membranous.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Narrow, smooth and continuous.

Seed head: Short, branching, open and greenish-white.

Spikelets: Flattened, with three to six florets.

Barnyardgrass

• Summer annual grassy weeds

Growth habit: A course-textured annual with broad, compressed purple sheaths that lie flat on the ground and spread in a semicircular pattern under close mowing. It usually germinates later than crabgrass.

Leaf blade: Rolled in the bud, long, tapered, heavy midrib and dark green in color.

Sheath: Compressed, smooth and tinged with purple.

Ligule: None.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Broad and continuous.

Seed head: Green to reddish-purple, with conspicuous short, stiff bristles.

Spikelets: Barbed with long or short awns.

Crabgrass

• Summer annual grassy weeds

Growth habit: This pale green annual has short, sparse hair with blades that taper to a point. Fingerlike seed head produces thousands of seeds that germinate in the spring when soil temperatures reach 55 degrees F.

Leaf blade: Rolled in the bud, hairy or smooth, about ¼ inch wide, tapers to a sharp point.

Sheath: Compressed and smooth or hairy.

Ligule: Long and membranous.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Broad and sparsely hairy.

Seed head: Three to 13 narrow racemes at the top of the stem.

Spikelets: Found in two rows, elliptical and sparsely hairy.

Foxtails

• Summer annual grassy weeds

Growth habit: This summer annual reaches maturity in midsummer and is often confused with crabgrass until it flowers.

Three species commonly occur in Missouri: green, giant and yellow. It is coarse-textured and forms tufts in mowed turf. It usually germinates after crabgrass but before goosegrass.

Leaf blade: Giant foxtail upper surface is covered with hairs. The upper leaf surface of yellow foxtail has sparse, long hairs present only near the base. Green foxtail's leaf blades are hairless. Giant and green foxtails are rolled in the bud, whereas yellow foxtail is folded.

Sheath: The sheath of yellow foxtail is flat-tened, smooth or sparsely hairy. Green and giant foxtails have a round to somewhat flattened sheath that ranges from smooth to densely hairy.

Ligule: A fringe of hairs.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Broad, continuous and smooth.

Seed head: Coarse and bushy, resembling the tail of a fox.

Spikelets: Ridged with several bristles and contains one seed.

Goosegrass

• Summer annual grassy weeds

Growth habit: Goosegrass thrives in full sun and compacted sites. Stems, leaf blades and seed head lie flat on the ground in a rosette pattern and tolerate close mowing It germinates later in the spring season than crabgrass.

Leaf blade: Folded in the bud, coarse texture, dark green, about ¼ inch wide and tapering to a point. Blades are very tough and wiry.

Sheath: White near the ground, green above, tightly compressed, overlapping and sparsely hairy margins.

Ligule: Short and membranous, divided at the midrib.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Broad, continuous and sparsely

Seed head: Two to 10 narrow racemes at the top of the main stem that are broader than crabgrass and have a zipperlike appearance.

Spikelets: Flat and contain ridged seed.

Fall panicum

• Summer annual grassy weeds

Growth habit: This sprawling to ascending bright green summer annual can be found in all seasons in subtropical conditions and propagates by seed. It is common during turfgrass establishment and frequently seen in wet, open habitats.

Leaf blade: Rolled in the bud with flat, smooth, pointed leaf blade that is sometimes hairy on the upper surface. Leaves have a distinct broad, light green midrib. Upper surface is dull; lower surface is glossy.

Sheath: Smooth, slightly compressed, often purplish.

Ligule: Fringe of hairs.

Auricles: None.

Collar: Broad and continuous.

Seed head: Panicle, compact.

Spikelets: Yellow, smooth, dull seed readily separated from hulls when ripe.

Bermudagrass

• Perennial grassy weeds

Growth habit: This aggressive perennial grass produces rhizomes and stolons. It is most aggressive in southern Missouri.

Leaf blade: Rolled in the bud, about ⅛ inch wide, gray green, slightly hairy or hairless, except for a fringe of long hairs at the edge just above the collar.

Sheath: Green, smooth and flattened.

Ligule: A conspicuous ring of white hairs.

Auricles: None.

Seed head: Erect or ascending.

Spikelets: In two rows slightly compressed to one side.

Dallisgrass

• Perennial grassy weeds

Growth habit: This coarse-textured, robust-growing, clumpy perennial grows primarily from seed and short rhizomes.

Leaf blade: Leaf blade is smooth on both surfaces with a few long hairs at the leaf base and behind the ligule at base of the leaf blade. Plant has a round verna-tion, or arrangement of leaves in the bud.

Sheath: Leaf sheaths at the base of the plant are sometimes rough and hairy

Ligule: Ligule is tall, membranous and either sharply or bluntly tipped

Auricles None.

Send bead: Three to seven alternate branches pointing upward on tall stalk.

Spikelets: Hairy, arranged in four rows with flat, white, round seed.

Johnsongrass

• Perennial grassy weeds

Growth habit: This perennial reproduces by large rhizomes or by seed.

Leaf blade: Alternate, rolled in the bud, smooth on both surfaces with a thick, gure 4-14

grass.

prominent white midvein.

Sheath: Smooth, pale green, reddish-brown to maroon, compressed, often with hairy margins.

Ligule: Membranous and jagged across the top. Older ligules have a fringe of hairs across the top of the membrane.

Auricles: None.

Seed head: Large, purplish, hairy, open and about 6 to 20 inches long

Spikelets: Long, ovate, reddish-brown with flat-lying straight hairs.

Nimblewill

• Perennial grassy weeds

Growth habit: Perennial, mat-forming grass that produces stolons. It is coarse-textured with grayish-green foliage. Stems are erect when young but spread, becoming wiry and root at the nodes later. In dormancy, the foliage turns nearly white.

Leaf blade: Rolled in the bud, short (about % to 3 inches long) and smooth except a few hairs near the ligule.

Sheath: Compressed, have prominent dark green veins and are membranous along the margins.

Ligule: Very short and membranous.

Auricles: None.

Seed head: Slender, spikelike panicles that are produced both at the ends of stalks and from the stem.

Spikelets: About % inch long with conspicuous awns that are about to % inch long.

Quackgrass

• Perennial grassy weeds

Growth habit: This rhizomatous perennial generally grows erect, bending at the nodes, and can tolerate mowing. Its rhizomes are pearly white.

Figure 4-16. Quackgrass.

Leaf blade: Rolled

in the bud, hairy to smooth on the upper Surface and smooth on the lower surface.

Sheath: May be hairy or smooth.

Ligule: Membranous and very short.

Auricles: Present but hard to see on seedling.

Seed head: A long spike.

Spikelets: Arranged in two rows, four to six are seeded and awns are usually present

Yellow nutsedge

• Miscellaneous perennial weeds

About 200 sedge species occur in

Missouri. Yellow nutsedge is the most prevalent species that infests turf and ornamental settings. It has triangular stems with leaves coming out of each of the three sides of the stem that are light green and have a glossy texture. During warm periods, the plant grows rapidly. Roots often end with small nutlets about the size of a popcorn kernel.

Wild garlic

• Miscellaneous perennial weeds

The slender, smooth leaves of wild garlic are hollow and attach to the lower portion of the waxy stems. Both bulbs and bulblets are produced under-ground, and the green to purple flowers are often replaced with aerial bulblets.

It has a characteristic onion-garlic odor.

Wild onion is similar to wild garlic but does not produce underground bulblets or have hollow leaves.

Star-of-Bethlehem

• Miscellaneous perennial weeds

Star-of-Bethlehem is a cool-season perennial that grows from a central bulb. The leaves are narrow and linear with a pale green to white midrib. The flowers have six white petals with a characteristic green stripe on the underside of each petal. It

flowers during spring in ornamental beds, roadsides and lawns.

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds

• Winter annual broadleaf weeds