Meadow+Knapweed

**__ MEADOW KNAPWEED __ **

__ **Common Name(s**): __ Meadow Knapweed __**Identification:**__ ~ perennial plant. ~ grows up to 3.5 feet tall. ~ flowers bloom from midsummer through fall and are pink to reddish-purple. ~ Basal leaves can be entire, lobed or toothed and have a petiole. ~ stem leaves are smaller and don't have a petiole. __**Characteristics:**__ ~ invasive plant which competes strongly with native plants. ~ well adapted to multiple habitats such as pastures, parks, roadsides, lawns and railroads. ~ coarse, tough foliage makes it unpalatable for most livestock giving it an advantage over other weeds. ~ reproduces mainly by seeds but can resprout via root and crown fragments. __**Control/ eradication recommendations**:__ ~ Cultivation can be an effective cultural control as well as mowing the plants periodically which may make them more palatable for livestock and more susceptable to herbicides. ~ Herbicides such as picloram, triclopyr or clopyralid are available to control knapweed. ~ In B.C Larinus minutus and Larinus obtusus (beetle) are used as biological controls. Metzneria paucipunctella (moth) and Urophora quadrifasciata (fly) are also control agents in B.C. [] []
 * __Scientific Name____:__** //Centaurea jacea x nigra//
 * __Origin:__** Europe
 * __Habitat:__** Found from B.C. to northern California
 * __References:__** []