|
Roger Batt and Bryan Dallolio are visiting a spot on the Boise River they had been to about three months earlier. Roger notes at that earlier time they saw some rosettes and last years growth of Spotted Knapweed but things look a little different this time. Bryan agrees and notes that the plants are in the bud stage now. If you look closely you can see some that are still in their bolting stage but he points to some buds that are just about ready to break open and put out the purple flower people can see across the hillsides when there is a large infestation of Spotted Knapweed. Bryan estimates that these particular buds are a week to ten days before blooming because they will need to be a little bit bigger before they open up. However, he also notes that not every bud on this weed will bloom at the same time.
Roger asks if the Spotted Knapweed plant can produce about 25,000 seeds or so. Bryan agrees and states they have quite a heavy seed production. Roger also asks how long the seeds can stay viable in the ground, "about eight years or so?" Bryan agrees again and says that would be a reasonable number and in some cases maybe more. He also states that a lot depends on the conditions. Year to year, rainfall will have an impact on how long the seeds will stay viable. This will also determine how long it would be before someone would have to come back and check this spot, say after a herbicide treatment to try to keep it cleaned up. Bryan concludes that this weed will be coming back for quite a while!
Back to Panorama
|
|
