Plant Spotlight: Poison hemlock Conium maculatum

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1 Volume 4 Issue 1 Plant Spotlight: Poison hemlock Conium maculatum COWLITZ COUNTY NOXIOUS WEEDCONTROL BOARD February 2015 Noxious Weed News Poison hemlock starts growing earlier in the season than most other invasive plants in Cowlitz County. As long as there is adequate moisture this toxic plant can invade anywhere from roadsides and farmland to riparian areas. It can grow upwards of 9 feet tall and start producing flowers as early as late spring. The stem and leaves of this plant will be smooth and virtually hairless and purple blotches will cover the stem. All parts of poison hemlock contain toxic alkaloids but most are concentrated in the seeds. These alkaloids have a great effect on the nervous system. Ingestion of any plant part can result in nausea, vomiting, confusion, respiratory depression, and muscle paralysis. Often, when death does occur, it is due to respiratory paralysis. This presents a danger to those who spend time outdoors, particularly those who want to identify plants. Many plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) are similar and poison hemlock can be confused with edible or nontoxic plants like parsley, anise, wild carrot and parsnip. Control of poison hemlock entails using the proper protective equipment as well being careful. Whether or not you re using herbicides, always wear long-sleeves, eye protection and gloves. Cutting is ineffective, but some small patches can be dug up, as long as you ensure to remove the intact tap root. MCPA, glyphosate, triclopyr and metsulfuron have demonstrated to be effective herbicides if choosing to use a chemical method of removal. Always exercise extreme caution when attempting to identify plants in a natural setting. Pictured above is a young poison hemlock plant.. Below, is a commonly found plant known as wild carrot or Queen Anne s Lace. Notice how similarly shaped the leaves are, and when young, how similar the plants are in size. While wild carrot will never reach the size of a mature poison hemlock plant, they can easily be confused early in the season. Queen Anne s Lace will lack the size and purple blotches on the stem that is indicative of poison hemlock. Purchasing the right plants for your garden is the first step. Knowing what you are planting is the solution to stopping invasives! Inside this issue: Plant spotlight: Poison hemlock 1 How can I benefit more from pollinators? 2 Cost-share and exempt status for landowners 3 Bee brochures and Pollinator seed packets 4-5 New from the WA State NWCB 5 Volunteer opportunities:

2 Page 2 How can I benefit more from pollinators? Anyone who grows flowering plants reaps benefits from the work of pollinators. Many different species of butterflies, hummingbirds and bees do the work necessary for many plants to produce fruit or flowers. You can encourage pollinators to visit your property in a number of different ways. Certain plants can encourage different pollinators. Being responsible in your various pesticide applications can create a more hospitable environment for some pollinators. Providing homes and alternative food sources for some can improve the numbers of pollinating animals around your home. Milkweed s nectar and pollen entices Monarch butterflies as well as gives them somewhere to lay eggs. Allowing a buffer of this plant around your property would be of benefit to you and the butterfly, ensuring they reproduce and have a food source. Salal, a native to our area, gives azure butterfly larva a food source as well as provides pollen for bees. Red-flowering currant is another option, and will encourage earlier pollination in and around your yard by butterflies that are active earlier in the season. Pacific rhododendrons, also a native, provide food and habitat for several species of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Being aware of habits your pollinators have will help you make better decisions when deciding what to spray and when. If you notice a large number of honeybees becoming active mid-day and have plans to treat a particular weed prior to flowering, perhaps limit your herbicide application to areas away from suspected hives and apply early in the morning while it s cool and pollinators are less active. If you re considering an insecticide application, make sure to thoroughly read the label or contact the manufacturer concerning the impact it may have on pollinators in your area. Hummingbird feeders are an excellent addition to your property. This provides a source of sucrose for hummingbirds in the early and late-seasons. Something to take note of is, hummingbirds generally don t like to share. Buying or constructing a feeder with multiple feeding sites or providing multiple feeders will give them the space they prefer. Solitary mason bees are relatively easy pollinators to provide for. They re also active earlier in the season than most bees. You can provide an area for them to nest. Reeds, bamboo and wooden blocks with holes drilled in them will give the mason bees a home to pack with mud. Most common diameters for mason bee homes are 5/16 and 3/8.

3 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1 Page 3 Cost-share and exempt status for landowners Managing large weed infestations can become very challenging, even for those who are financially and physically able. For those who are physically unable, or on a limited or low income, we have a program to help them with their weed issues. If someone qualifies as exempt, the program will perform the necessary application or cut-and-bag their noxious weeds at no cost to them. This includes all weed species we target for control. For landowners that do not qualify as tax-exempt but still need assistance controlling their weeds, we have two cost-share options. Knotweed often grows in highly sensitive riparian areas and requires applicators gain an additional endorsement on their applicator s license. This can lead to a higher cost when contracting the work out. The program will cover the entire cost of herbicide, up to $500 per calendar year. For Canada thistle, tansy ragwort and yellow archangel, the program has a 60/40 costshare. Again, this just covers the cost of herbicide to control these select plants, but can be used to cover up to $350 per year $28.87 Exempt landowners 2014 $ $ Cost share $ $ $ Landowner 1 Landowner2 Landowner3 Landowner4 Landowner5 Landowner6 Landowner7 Landowner8 Landowner9 Landowner10 Landowner11 Landowner12 Landowner13 Landowner14 Landowner15 Landowner16 Landowner17 Figure 1. List of exempt landowners in Cowlitz County who had weeds controlled and cost to the program. This includes tansy ragwort, Canada thistle, knotweeds, knapweeds and yellow archangel. Figure 2. List of landowners in the 60/40 or knotweed cost-share and how much was reimbursed to them. Landowner1 Landowner2 Landowner3 Landowner4 Landowner5 Landowner6

4 Page 2 Bee brochure from the NWCB Without the assistance of pollinators our farmers markets, groceries stores and ultimately, what we have to eat at home would be drastically different. Living in Washington, it is important to remember that apple production relies 100% on some form of pollination (primarily, honeybees). The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board has put together a brochure outlining the relationship between controlling invasives and managing bees. This will be made available in our office for anyone interested in reading more about this relationship. It includes these helpful resources: The Xerces Society Pollinator Partnership 10 Ways to Protect Bees from Pesticides agr.wa.gov/plantsinsects/apiary WSU Master Gardener Program mastergardener.wsu.edu Washington Native Plant Society Additional publications are available in our office and at

5 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1 Page 5 Eliminating noxious weeds from private and public lands includes roadsides, agricultural land, riparian areas, and many other landscapes. This is primarily what drives our program. Infestations can range from several plants to solid acres. Clearing lands of these weeds is critical to support habitat for wildlife and our natural resources; however, it is only a part of restoring these functioning landscapes. Control of these plants often includes removal of monocultures. Quite often in long-standing monocultures of invasive weeds, little to no native plant life is present. One of the next steps after invasive plant removal is restoring the area with non-invasive species. Many pollinators utilize invasive species as a source for nectar, pollen and habitat. While removing these species is important, it is equally important for pollinators that they have an alternative. We now have a limited supply of seed mix comprised of 18 non-invasive or native plants. These include large showy blooms, as well as smaller blooms that are equally attractive to some kind of pollinator. You can pick these up at our office and add them to your control regimen for use after removing invasive plants. Non-invasive seed packets Due to the wide variety of plant species in the mix, you can experience different blooms throughout the growing season. This will bring early, mid-season, and late pollinators to your garden. These can be spread over a large area, separated and contained after germination, or placed in bare spots after weed treatments. Having areas covered by the flower mix can also help avoid the establishment of invasive species if none are currently present. Prevention of noxious weeds is your best option for control.

6 We have been fortunate in the past to have had members of the public volunteer their time to help. This year, we hope to continue our efforts on the Mt. St. Helens elk refuge with more assistance from volunteers. May 1st and 2nd (Friday and Saturday) we will be organizing help from the public, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the US Forest Service and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. We will be identifying and flagging mouse-ear hawkweed locations to be treated and removing longstanding Scotch broom infestations. Gaining more control over these species will provide greater forage opportunities for wildlife on the monument. The Noxious Weed Program benefits greatly from the extra help with mouseear hawkweed, as it allows our technicians more time to survey further into monument and begin treatments sooner. There will be a short safety briefing prior to the work being done and a restroom will be provided. Volunteer Opportunities Weed control schedule Plant Mechanical control Chemical control Poison hemlock Feb. Apr. remove entire taproot with small plants Feb. Jun. apply while actively growing using glyphosate, MCPA, triclopyr, 2,4-D Yellow archangel Sep. Mar. hand pull all plant fragments Mar. Jun. apply while actively growing using glyphosate, triclopyr, imazapyr Meadow knapweed Mar. Jun. hand pull or dig small plants May July apply up to flowering with glyphosate, clopyralid, aminopyralid Scotch broom Feb. May pull/dig small infestations May June, Aug. Sept. apply glyphosate, triclopyr, 2,4-D Canada thistle Mar. May repeated tillage/mowing May July apply clopyralid, glyphosate, triclopyr, 2,4-D Spotted knapweed Mar. Jun., Aug. Sep. mowing or tillage May July apply glyphosate, clopyralid, aminopyralid Tansy ragwort Apr. Jun. hand pull small plants May July apply 2,4-D, dicamba, glyphosate, triclopyr Common tansy Apr. Jun. cut or dig up plants May July apply picloram, dicamba, metsulfuron, 2,4-D, glyphosate Knotweed N/A cutting, mowing, digging will spread plants July Sep. apply mix of glyphosate and imazapyr Primary Business Address Address Line 2 Address Line 3 Address Line 4 Phone: Fax: COWLITZ COUNTY