We’ve been making a list,
And checking it twice,
Now its time to find out
Who has been naughty and nice!
It is a WeedWise tradition for each of our staff to select our annual “Naughty and Nice” list for the year. Check out the latest from our staff in this fun holiday tradition!
Sam’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Invasive knotweeds (Reynoutria sp.)
This year, I chose the invasive knotweeds to be on my naughty (knotty) list this year. These invasive weeds are considered to be one of the 100 worst global invaders. They are extremely widespread in Clackamas County and across our region.
The knotweeds are on my naughty list this year because they take over stream sides where they displace our native vegetation during the growing season and retreat underground in winter, leave stream banks bare and exposed. This leads to massive erosion that can reduce water quality, and harms fish and wildlife.
The invasive knotweeds consist of a hybrid swarm of Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), Giant knotweed (Reynoutrisa sachalinensis) and their hybrid Bohemian knotweed (Reynoutria x bohemica). These three team up and work in concert to disrupt our local ecology and degrade the landscape.
Learn more about the knotweeds at the link below.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/379255-Reynoutria
Nice
Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Red-osier dogwood is an easy pick for the nice list, especially in winter. This time of year, as plant shed their foliage, the striking red bark serves as a reminder that these plants aren’t dead, but sleeping. They are waiting for spring, for new leaves to emerge, to help shade streams and wetlands. The creamy white flowers of red-osier dogwood serves as a reliable nectar sources for our native pollinators. As flowers wane, the are replaced by white to dark blue berries in summer and fall. These berries help to support local bird populations.
Red-osier dogwood is also a work horse for restoration. It propagates easily, matures quickly, and spreads locally to help suppress invasive weeds. It can be found in many riparian and wetland restoration plants, and is also prized by gardeners for its striking bark, and pleasing foliage.
Learn more about red-osier dogwood at the link below
Justin’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Mastication
The masticator ate Justin’s homework, and maybe more.
Nice
Spot Spraying
This punishes the naughty and helps protect the nice.
Monte’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Shining Geranium (Geranium lucidum)
Geranium lucidum (shining geranium) is an aggressive beast. Once it gets a foothold in a forest’s edge, it rapidly invades the understory like green wildfire choking out whatever else is trying to grow there. This low-growing herb is a recent introduction to our area, first collected in 1971, about a mile south of Henry Hagg Lake near the borders of Washington and Yamhill Counties. After keeping a low profile for several years, in the early 2000s, shining geranium began to disperse exponentially, a rate that continues unabated to this day. It has stubbornly taken root along thousands of miles of roadsides in western Oregon, unfortunately including the Mount Hood National Forest’s Clackamas River Ranger District. WeedWise has documented and initiated management of this species along multiple remote Forest Service roads and tributaries of the Clackamas River, where it is an existential threat to the floral diversity of intact mid-elevation forests. Its superpower appears to be producing multiple generations per year, producing ballistic/explosive seeds that get trekked around by boots, tires, wildlife, and water. To identify shining geranium, look for a low growing plant with shiny green rounded leaves roughly the size of a quarter, red stems with no hairs, and pink flowers about 1-cm in diameter. Remove it wherever possible!
Nice
Oregon Goldthread (Coptis laciniata)
The dissected leaflets and distinctive wheel-shaped inflorescence of Coptis laciniata (Oregon goldthread) suggest it’s a member of the carrot or parsley family (Apiaceae), but in fact it’s a buttercup (Ranunculaeae). This attractive yet understated native perennial is found in mid-elevation forests of the Pacific Northwest. Look for this low-growing evergreen’s three shiny leaflets near streams and understories of damp, late-successional conifer forests. Its rhizomes create air pockets in the soil, helping microorganisms thrive and increasing infiltration of rainwater, and there’s also some evidence that Columbian blacktail deer (Odocoileus hemionus ssp. columbianus) and ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) rely upon this plant for forage. I couldn’t find any research or observations of the pollination ecology of Oregon goldthread, but I did find some photos on iNaturalist showing insects interacting with its showy flowers (a soldier fly? a fungus beetle?). It just goes to show there’s so much we don’t know, and so much to learn, about this and countless other species under threat from invasive weeds like shining geranium taking over and simplifying habitat, and reducing biodiversity.
Sources:
iNaturalist images of insects on Coptis laciniata:
username: brianalindh
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11448725
Geranium lucidum herbarium specimen:
Collector: Louis H. Gross
Date: 14-Sep-1971
Location: 45.41209, -123.22772. Datum: NAD83
Oregon State University Herbarium, Occurrence ID 4285246
Brendan’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)
I chose Giant Hogweed this year for my naughty list because it is a riparian invader that is a threat to ecosystems as well as human health. Hogweed is a perennial plant in the carrot family (Apiaceae) and is striking for the truly giant sizes it can get to, recorded between 6ft and 16ft tall. Because of its size and the large panicle of white flowers it produces, it has sometimes attracted gardeners, however this would be ill-advised.
Giant Hogweed can cause permanent skin damage when a person is exposed to the sap in the stems or leaves and exposed to the sun. This phototoxic reaction creates severe blistering and inflammation. This plant also spreads rapidly near the confluence of urban and riparian systems where its large papery seeds are able to float downstream and create new thickets of this dangerous plant. Giant Hogweed is listed as both a state and federal noxious weed. In Oregon it is classified at the highest risk level, A, due to its relative scarcity and potential impact on people and the environment.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53094-Heracleum-maximum
Nice
Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridus)
Devil’s Club is a plant that at first blush seems like it belongs on the naughty list, however it most certainly does not. This native plant may have some wicked thorns and striking red berries, however it is actually a great riparian and wetland species that people may be unfamiliar with if they have not ventured into old growth forests, undisturbed alpine river valleys, or other untrammeled natural areas.
This plant can sometimes dominate wet understories as it reproduces through clonal tubers as well as by its seeded berries. These berries are favored by bears and elk are known to browse the shoots and leaves. Devil’s Club has also been an important plant to Pacific Northwest native communities for a myriad of uses both medicinal and practical. It grows very slowly and needs nutrient rich soil, which is why seeing a stand of Devil’s Club can signal nearby mature conifers and an area relatively free of disturbance.
Sierra’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica)
Dalmatian toadflax is a common invasive species on the east side of Oregon that has been recently identified in multiple locations on Mount Hood National Forest. This species can outcompete native grasses and forbs, negatively impacting biodiversity. It can also be costly in agriculture settings where it can take over rangeland and be difficult to get rid of. I put Dalmatian toadflax on the naughty list this year so we can all keep an eye out for it and stop its spread throughout the quarries, roadsides, and rocky areas of Clackamas County!
Learn more about Dalmatian toadflax at the link below:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/77776-Linaria-dalmatica
Nice
Seep Monkey Flower (Erythranthe guttata)
Monkey flower is an adorable native wildflower that thrives in wet environments like streambanks and sunny seeps, as the name suggests. The bright yellow flower is mainly pollinated by bumble bee species as well as other native critters like butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. It’s knack for spreading throughout its habitat and supporting native wildlife is why I’ve put it on the nice list this year!
Learn more about monkey flower at the link below:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/470643-Erythranthe-guttata#articles-tab
Samantha’s Naughty and Nice List
Naughty
Ventenata, North Africa grass (Ventenata dubia)
Ventenata is increasingly becoming a problem in managed grass-hay systems where infestations can cause yield reductions of 50% or more within a few years. It contains silica which makes it poor forage. It is also invading native prairie, a threatened habitat and there is lots of research out about how it is altering fire regimes and taking over areas post fire as well. This is a species that has been popping up in quarries, pull outs, and roadsides in Mount Hood National Forest and is a species we should be keeping an eye on!
ID Tips
Habitat: Dry, open, disturbed habitats
Habit: Winter annual, ranging from 12 cm – > 1 ft tall, completely hairless
Inflorescence: Open, spreading
Leaves: Sheath open, ligule – fringe
Stems: With dark colored nodes at maturity
Flowers: Lemmas have a bent/twisted awn from closer to the tip, 2 or more florets per spikelet (*caution* mature specimens generally retain 1 floret after upper florets have broken away, which can lead to misinterpretation of the spikelet)
Comments: Dense stands can cast a distinctive reddish-silver glow
Look alikes: Often confused with Deschampsia danthoides (annual hairgrass) and can invade similar habitats but annual hairgrass has long, bent awns that arise from near the base of the lemma backs as opposed to near the tip in ventenata. Also beware that later in the season once florets have dropped, different species of Agrostis and Bromus can vaguely have the same look and can also have the dark nodes. In this case try to find any lingering florets still hanging on and look for the bent/twisted awns and for the fringed ligules.
Management Strategies
Late fall applications of herbicide are ideal for attacking seedlings just after they emerge. Using an herbicide that has pre-emergent qualities will help kill all the seeds in the seed bank.
Nice
California oat grass (Danthonia californica)
California oatgrass is a native grass and like many other native grasses its habitat is getting taken over by invasive perennial and annual grasses.
ID Tips
Habitat: Moist meadows and open spaces
Habit: Cespitose perennial
Inflorescence: Branches widely spreading to reflexed
Leaves: Collar hairy (appearing like eyelashes), leaves spreading widely or angling down
Flowers: Large and held out at the tips of stiffly spreading branches. Purple anthers dangle out at maturity and they’re very cute!