Scouting for weeds: Virginia pepperweed
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EmailEditor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.
Life cycle
Erect winter of summer annual.
Leaves
Leaves initially develop from a basal rosette. Lower leaves are oval with toothed margins on long petioles. Mature leaves are irregularly lobed, smooth and tapering to the petiole, and hairless. Upper leaves are alternate, toothed or entire, lanceolate and pointed.
Stems
Erect, branched with small hairs, mostly 1.5- to 2-foot-tall stems bolt from a basal rosette to flower.
Flowers and fruit
White to greenish flowers with four small petals are found in terminal clusters. Fruit are flat, round to oval, distinctly winged, .25 inch-wide pods with a shallow notch.
Editor’s note: This and more weed identification information is available in the field guide An IPM Pocket Guide for Weed Identification in Field Crops. To order, call 517-353-6740.
