Wireweed

Biological Name:

Polygonum spp. (Wireweed)

Natural Habitat:

Wireweed is a plant native to North America. It can be found in a variety of habitats, including wetlands and salt marshes.

Description:

Wireweed is a herbaceous annual plant that is native to North America. It has small yellow or white flowers and long narrow leaves. It is often found in agricultural fields and is a common weed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is Wireweed good for?
A: The root of this herb possesses astringent properties and, hence, it is effective for treating problems related to the blood as well as bile. Moreover, the root and seeds of common wireweed are useful when used in the form of a tonic to treating urinary and nervous diseases.
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Q: Why is Wireweed a problem?
A: Wireweed (or wire weed) prefers to germinate in wet soils so it is problematic in winter and in spring sown crops as it can be very competitive and smother crops. Once larger than a seedling, is difficult to control, with selective herbicides in crops.
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Q: Are Germanders poisonous?
A: What traditional herbalists appear to have missed is that germander is toxic to the liver. In the 1980s, germander became a popular treatment for weight control in France. A small epidemic of hepatitis was the result.
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Q: What does Wireweed look like?
A: Description. Wireweed is a large prostrate plant, with a long, fibrous taproot and small blue-green leaves growing alternately on stems up to 1.2 m long. Its flowers are small and pinkish white. Wireweed seedlings have spear-shaped, hairless cotyledons that grow up to 15mm long.
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Q: Is Broomweed poisonous?
A: Both the green and dried plant are toxic, although there appears to be considerable variability in toxicity. Perennial which is shrubby or woody only at the base, attaining 18-24 inches in height. The stems are branching, the leaves are linear and glabrous.
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Q: Are curly docks weeds?
A: Curly dock (Rumex crispus), also known as sour dock, yellow dock, narrowleaf dock, or curled dock, is a perennial weed native to Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.
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Q: Is Capeweed dandelion?
A: Capeweed – otherwise known as cape dandelion – is an invader that’s notoriously difficult to control. So, what exactly is it, and how do you keep on top of it? Native to South Africa, this noxious weed has widely nationalised throughout the southern, central and eastern regions of Australia.
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Q: Can Wireweed eat?
A: Side rhombifolia leaves are eaten as a vegetable in Australia. The tender, young seed pods are mild in flavor but their ephedrine concentration is unknown so use some care if you decide to eat them. The stems of S.
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Q: Does pokeweed taste good?
A: People who know that its young shoots and leaves are delicious, and safe. Cooked pokeweed shoots and young leaves are succulent, juicy and have a unique flavor. Native Americans knew this, and ate poke every season (toxic parts of the plant were used medicinally). In the modern South, poke is still a spring treat.
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Q: Is Japanese Wireweed invasive?
A: Wireweed is a non-indigenous invasive species and was first spotted on the Isle of Wight in 1973. The species’ introduction into European waters is thought to have unintentionally occurred through commercial oysters that were transported from British Columbia, Canada or Japan into France.
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Q: What animal is best for eating weeds?
A: Sheep are especially good for weed control, as they graze close to the ground, and will readily eat thistles. In legume crops, sheep will graze out grassy weeds. Geese have been used in garden plots to control grassy weeds.
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Q: Why is Japanese Wireweed a threat?
A: The seaweed forms dense stands and may compete for space and light, increase sedimentation, and reduce nutrients available for native kelp species. The species, sometimes referred to as “wireweed,” has also become a nuisance in recreational waters by fouling propellers, nets and fishing lines.
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Q: What part of the pokeweed can you eat?
A: The highest amounts of poison are found in the roots, leaves, and stems. Small amounts are in the fruit. Cooked berries and leaves (cooked twice in separate water) can technically be eaten.
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Q: Where is Japanese Wireweed native to?
A: Sargassum muticum was first described from Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, by Yendo in 1907. Its native range extends from the East China Sea (China and South Korea) to the coasts of Japan and the north shore of Hokkaido, and the Sakhalin and Kurile Islands, Russia (Critichley 1983b; Eneglen et al.
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Q: How do you get rid of Wireweed?
A: Wireweed is easily killed in paths by spraying Glyphosate broad spectrum herbicide. The weed can also be hand pulled from lawns, or a sharp knife used to cut the weed off at it’s roots. A selective broadleaf herbicide can usually easily control Wireweed in lawns as well.
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Q: Should I pull Horseweed?
A: Hand-pull mature plants before they flower, so they cannot drop seeds and reproduce. Cultivation may be used to uproot plants under one foot tall. Mowing slows horseweed growth but must be done frequently to stop regrowth and seed production.
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Q: What kills weeds and keeps them from coming back?
A: Vinegar is a contact herbicide; that cannot get to the roots of weeds to kill them. This pesticide is most effective when applied on a warm day. Reapply herbicide to older and more established weeds to keep them from re-growing. Reapplying will weaken the weeds, eventually killing them.
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Q: What spray kills Capeweed?
A: Capeweed control Small infestations can be physically removed or treated with Vigilant II by applying to 50% of the leaves of the plant. For more extensive infestations, use Grazon Extra as a foliar spray at 1.5 mL/1 L of water.
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Q: What kills Dollarweed naturally?
A: Boiling water – Pouring boiling water on areas with dollar weed will quickly kill the plants. … Baking soda – Some people have had luck with using baking soda for killing dollar weeds. … Sugar – Others have found success with dissolving white sugar over the weed.
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Q: How do I get rid of pokeweed infestation?
A: Pokeweed can be killed with a weed killer or brush killer when applied with a pressure sprayer. If the pokeweed problem persists, you might want to try using a two percent solution of glyphosate herbicide such as RoundUp Max Control which you can buy at Amazon.
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Q: What herbicide kills wireweed?
A: Metsulfuron provides cheap control of wireweed, triclopyr is generally preferred for melon control and atrazine for small crumbweed (also known as mintweed or goosefoot). 2,4-D controls a wide range of broadleaved weeds and is preferred if stock are available for spray grazing.
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Q: Why is smartweed called smartweed?
A: The Latin genus name refers to the swollen nodes on the jointed, slightly angled stems. Knotweed is named for the sheath that encircles the nodes on the stems. The plants are called smartweed because they have a sharp, peppery flavor and their plant juice makes one’s eyes run.
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Q: What are those prickly weeds called?
A: The culprit is burweed or sticker weed (Soliva pterosperma), a cool-season annual weed that germinates in the fall as temperatures cool. It grows over the winter and flowers and produces seed pods in the spring. It is the seed pods that cause problems as they produce sharp spines as they mature.
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Q: Is Veronica Agrestis edible?
A: Edible Uses: Leaves and young shoots – raw or cooked.
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Q: How do you identify Wireweed?
A: When wireweed germinates it first produces a few very slim and slight leaves – it can almost be confused for a grass plant at this stage – but it then rapidly develops its long and snaking stem, with its distinctive swollen nodes and blue/ green leaves.
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About the author

Samuel is a gardening professional and enthusiast who has spent over 20 years advising homeowners and farm owners on weed identification, prevention and removal. He has an undergraduate degree in plant and soil science from Michigan State University.