Jobs Tears

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Jobs Tears

• A tall grain-bearing tropical plant
• From the family Poacea (grass family)
• Native to East Asia and Malaya
• Used in East Asian cuisine and liquor

Holly Horner
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Diffuse Knapweed

• Member of the genus Centaurea
• Native to Asian Minor, the Balkans, Ukraine, and
  S. Russia
• A single plant can produce 18,000 seeds
• Invasive in N. America
• First introduced in 1907 in Washington State

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Yellow Star Thistle
Centaurea solstitialis L.
What is it? An invasive non-native weed that
populates in grass lands. Youve probably seen it
on one of our field trips. It has grayish-green
foliage and very sharp seed heads, along with a
bright yellow flower. It originated in the
Europe-Mediterranean region, and was likely able
to make it to the United States through a
contaminated batch of alfalfa seed.
The shaded areas are where the plant has been
distributed. It is reported to be invasive in
California, Idaho, Oregon, New Jersey, Utah, and
Washington.
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Yellow Star Thistle

• Ecological Impacts
• It chokes out the native plants, reducing
  biodiversity, and wildlife habitat and forage. It
  is legally controlled in some states where it is
  replacing important forage vegetation and
  reducing rangeland values. (USDA Forest Service)
• Yellow starthistle significantly depletes soil
  moisture reserves in annual grasslands in
  California (qtd in Yellow Starthistle
  Information)
• It can also decrease grazing because animals
  avoid the spiny weed.

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Yellow Star Thistle
What can be done? YST is extremely difficult to
get rid of. You cant simply pull it out and
assume that it wont come back. Its seeds are
easily spread and can be carried with you on your
shoes or clothing. Mowing the weed might actually
increase the problem by spreading the seed if
done too early or late.

• Natural pests can help the natural removal of YST
• Two weevils (Bangastemus orientalis and
  Eustenopus vilosus) and two flies (Urophora
  sirunaseva and Chaetorellia succinea). They feed
  on the flower and can limit the seed production
  by half.
• If manually removing YST be sure to remove all of
  the stem, it can grow back with only a few inches
  and a leaf. Remove right after the stems have
  bolted but the thorns have not yet formed. (This
  is also the case with mowing.)

A weevil eating YST
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Cape Ivy
Delairea odorata
What is it? Cape ivy is a plant in the sunflower
family that is native to South Africa. It was
brought to the United States in the 19th century
as a potted plant. It has spread across riparian
areas and all along California. People use it in
their yards because it grows quickly.

• Cape ivy grows rapidly, and takes root wherever a
  leaf node touches the ground.
• Tiny portions of stem can survive for long
  periods before resprouting.
• Plants can live an extended period without light
  or water.
• The dense vines overtop and smother out native
  shrubs, tree seedlings, and associated herbaceous
  plants.
• Cape ivy is a threat to the integrity of coastal
  scrub and riparian vegetation.

(National Park Service)
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Cape Ivy

• What can be done?
• The entire plant, including roots, are manually
  removed.
• Great care must be taken NOT to drop any
  fragments of the plant for they WILL sprout.
  The plants are allowed to dry and then burned.
• On a monthly basis, re-sprouts need to be removed
  and burned.
• Map out and begin the removal of cape ivy
  infestations from riparian areas at the
  headwaters. This will prevent fragments of cape
  ivy carried downstream by floods from
  re-infesting areas where you have removed it.
• (National Park Service)

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Himalayan Blackberry
Himalayan Blackberry, or Rubus Armeniacus, is one
of the nastiest invasive plant species. It has a
thick, hearty stem and extremely sharp thorns for
protection, and its roots dig very deeply into
the earth. A new plant can spring up from a mere
root fragment after the plant has been pulled. It
is considered by Washington State Universitys
affiliate website to be one of the top ten most
unwanted pests in the northwest.
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Yosemite
Yosemite national park has been in a constant
battle with invasive plants since the 1930s.
They have a program in the park called the VIP
or Visitors In Parks program, in which people
do volunteer work as a form of pay for their stay
in the park. Part of these volunteers jobs
includes pulling out the nasty Himalayan
Blackberry. This plant is pushing out the native
blackberry from the park.
Photo by Holly Horner
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Methods for Removal

• Removing Himalayan Blackberry is an interesting
  task. One of the common methods is to cut the
  stems, which can be several feet tall, and then
  dig out the roots. This method works reasonably
  well, especially when the entire root is pulled,
  but it is a long, arduous process which must be
  done almost entirely by hand. It also requires
  several years of follow up, as new plants will
  inevitably sprout from the remaining root that
  gets snapped off while pulling the plant. The
  other process for removing the plant involves
  cutting the stems and then spraying herbicide
  onto the roots. This works fairly well, but can
  be harmful to other plants in the surrounding
  area.

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Italian Thistle

Originally from the Mediterranean, Italian
Thistle is an invasive annual. It reproduces
every season strictly from seed, leaving dry,
thorny dead material behind each season. It has
no known practical uses, and has invaded fields
and parks in the Sierra Nevadas and other areas
of California.
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Removal of Italian Thistle
Italian Thistle is most easily removed by pulling
the individual weeds and then spraying spot
herbicide on the area from which they grow. This
plant is hard to contain because its seed is
carried by wind, and can remain viable for up to
eight years after its dispersal, according to
the experts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks.
Photo by Brother Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's
College.
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Works Cited
"Carduus Genus." California Department of Food
and Agriculture. 15 Nov. 2007 lthttp//cdfa.ca.gov/
phpps/ipc/weedinfo/carduus.htmgt. "Carduus
Pycnocephalus (Italian Thistle)." The Global
Invasive Species Team. Jan. 2005. UC Davis. 15
Nov. 2007 lthttp//tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/car
dpycn.htmlgt. "Information About Italian
Thistle- Carduus Pycnocephalus." Written Findings
of the State Noxious Weed Control Board - Class a
Weed. Washington State Noxious Weed Control
Board. 15 Nov. 2007 lthttp//www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_i
nfo/Carduus_pycnocephalus.htmlgt. "Italian
Thistle, Non-Native Plants of Sequoia and King's
Canyon." National Park Service. 17 Sept. 2003. 15
Nov. 2007 lthttp//www.nps.gov/archive/seki/snrm/nn
p/html/badcapy.htmgt. "Diffuse
Knapweed-Wikipedia." Wikipedia. 14 Nov. 2007
lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffuse_knapweedgt.
"Job's Tears-Wikipedia." Wikipedia. 14 Nov.
2007 lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job27s_Tearsgt.

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Work Cited, Continued
Evans, Sarah, and Todd Murray. "Himalayan
Blackberry." The Top Ten Most Unwanted Pests.
Washington State University. 15 Nov. 2007
lthttp//lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit/UnWantedPest
s/Blackberry.htmgt. "Himalayan Blackberry,
Non-Native Plants of Seqouia and King's Canyon
National Parks." Invasive Non-Native Plants. 17
Sept. 2003. National Park Service. 15 Nov. 2007
lthttp//www.nps.gov/archive/seki/snrm/nnp/html/bad
rudi.htmgt. "Rubus Armeniacus-Wikipedia."
Wikipedia. 15 Nov. 2007 lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/w
iki/Himalayan_Blackberrygt. Samodien, Jasmine,
Melissa Wood, Katherine Epps, and Mandy Thandy,
eds. "An Introduction to Common Exotic Species."
University College of the Fraser Valley. 30 Nov.
1999. University College of the Fraser Valley. 15
Nov. 2007 lthttp//www.ucfv.ca/biology/Biol210/1999
/Exotic/Exotic_plant.htmgt.
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Even More Works Cited
"Cape Ivy Control." NPS. National Park Service.
10 Nov 2007 lthttp//www.nps.gov/goga/naturescienc
e/cape-ivy- control.htmgt. "Yellow Starthistle
Information." Weed RIC. UC Weed RIC. 10 Nov 2007
lthttp//wric.ucdavis.edu/yst/intro/introduction.h
tmlgt. "Weed of the Week." US Forest Service. 03
Oct 2006. USDA Forest Service. 19 Nov 2007
lthttp//na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/ye
llow- starthistle.pdfgt. "What is Cape Ivy?."
NPS. 21 June 2001. National Park Service. 10 Nov
2007 lthttp//www.nps.gov/archive/redw/c-ivy.htmgt.