May Weed of the Month:
Pesky Plant Trackers
By ABBIE ANDERSON
University of Minnesota
Department of Forest
Resources
This spring, the coro-
navirus pandemic has ev-
eryone adjusting to uncer-
tainty and assessing the
safety of our activities. For-
tunately, one safe activity
is the tracking of seasonal
change in living organisms,
or phenology. Phenology
gets us outdoors, physi-
cally active, and mentally
engaged. When appropri-
ately planned, these ac-
tivities are compatible with
social distancing. Most
importantly,
observing
the natural world relieves
stress and offers a welcome
change of scenery.
As you observe your lo-
cal scenery this spring, be
on the lookout for these
pesky plants: wild pars-
nip (Pastinaca sativa) and
Japanese knotweed (Fallo-
pia japonica). As its name
denotes, wild parsnip is the
feral relative to the familiar
food crop. Its leaves and
stems contain a toxic sap
that burns exposed skin
when exposed to sun. Jap-
anese knotweed was once
Japanese knotweed is a perennial plant that can
form dense, leafy thickets up to 9 feet tall. Its leaf-
shape and flower structure help distinguish it from
similar knotweeds. Plants produce clusters of white
or cream-colored flowers which bloom in August
and September.
admired as a bamboo-like
ornamental plant. How-
ever, it sprouts through
concrete, propagates from
small root fragments, and
compromises the integ-
rity of bridges, drains and
buildings. These two spe-
cies are the focus of Pesky
Plant Trackers, a new par-
ticipatory science project.
Pesky Plant Track-
ers gets people involved
in tracking the seasonal
changes of wild parsnip
and Japanese knotweed.
Why? Because timing is key
to control these noxious
weeds. For example, mow-
ing wild parsnip to prevent
seed maturation must be
done during a narrow time
window. If done too early
relative to flowering, plants
re-sprout. If done too late
relative to flowering, seeds
spread the infestation.
Similarly, timing matters
for controlling knotweed
because the application of
foliar herbicide is most ef-
fective in the late summer/
early fall before frost.
Predicting plant devel-
opment stages is impor-
tant for the restoration of
Minnesota environments.
Pesky Plant Trackers
works toward that greater
purpose by enlisting the
help of citizen scientists.
WE ARE OPEN!
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Front queen, 17’6’’ garage
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The program offers partic-
ipants training, resources,
a platform to collect ob-
servations, and support
of a community around
shared goals. Participants
contribute four hours of
time for training and 20
minutes per week to report
phenological data. Activi-
ties begin in June. Below
is an outline to plan your
participation or spread the
word.
Signup for news of soon-
to-be announced training.
(link: bit.ly/peskyplants)
Complete online train-
ing modules to learn how
to identify plants, stay safe
around wild parsnip and
collect valuable data.
Participate by following
these four steps:
1. Find pesky plants in
your local environment.
2. Join Nature’s Note-
book to set up your site
and species online.
3. Track pesky plants at
your site.
4. Share your observa-
tions on Nature’s Note-
book
Pesky Plant Trackers is
a project by the University
of Minnesota’s Depart-
ment of Forest Resources.
Partners include USA-
National Phenology Net-
work, the Minnesota De-
Dairyland Peach, May 10, 2020 Page 7
Correction
In the May 3 issue of the Dairyland Peach, the
story about the masks made by Marilyn Schro-
eder incorrectly stated she made the masks for the
National Wildlife Turkey Federation. In fact, she
made the masks for Midwest Outdoors Unlimited.
The Peach regrets the error.
Mature wild parsnip plants send up branched stalks
with flowers that are arranged in flat umbels. The
flowers, which bloom in June through August, are
chartreuse with five curled petals. Plants die after
developing seeds.
partment of Agriculture,
Minnesota
Department
of Natural Resources, and
Minnesota Department of
Transportation.
Funding is provided by
Minnesota Invasive Ter-
restrial Pests and Plants
Center through the Min-
nesota Environment and
2019
2019 Jayco 26BHX Eagle Fifth Wheel
Natural Resource Trust
Fund as recommended by
the
Legislative-Citizens
Commission on Minne-
sota Resources.
For more information,
visit peskyplants.umn.edu
or email peskyplants@
umn.edu.
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