ALAMOSA – Noxious Weeds are illegal in Colorado and must be managed by property owners. Here are Alamosa’s top noxious weeds and what to do about them.

PUNCTURE VINE (Tribulus terrestris) in a summer annual forb, and is native to Europe. The plant is prostrate or ascending, spreading into mat forming cover.

The stems are trailing and can grow to 1 1/2 to 5 feet long. Leaves are formed into leaflets, with each leaflet containing 5 to 8 oval leaves. The leaves are hairy and opposite. The flowers appear in July through October. They have five petals and are yellow in color.

Each flower node will produce a fruit, at maturity the fruit will break into 5 seed capsules. Each seed capsule will produce 2-4 seeds. Each capsule is hard and contains many spines, almost tack like. The shape of the seed capsule has been referred to as a “goathead.” The seeds will propagate after the first moisture of the spring and then any wet period following. Seeds can stay viable for 4 to 5 years. Habitats for Puncturevine include, but are not limited to roadsides, pastures, waste areas, cultivated fields, yards, and disturbed sites. The seed capsules can cause injury to humans, animals, and tires. Seeds can be found in hay, which may cause injury to animals.

Due to the spiny nature of the plant, spreading seed over large areas is fairly easy.

The key to effective control of Puncturevine is preventing the plants to produce seed. Puncturevine can easily be dug up, making sure to get all the roots and to bag any flowering parts. Chemical and biological controls can also be effective as treatment options.

RUSSIAN KNAPWEED is a non-native, deep-rooted perennial that spreads by aggressive, creeping, horizontal roots (rhizomes) and seeds.

The roots are brown to black with a scaly appearance. Russian knapweed can grow up to 3 feet in height. The stems and leaves are covered with short gray hairs. The flowers are urn-shaped, pink to purple in color, and are solitary at the tips of the upper branches.

Russian knapweed can be distinguished from other knapweeds by the smooth, papery, rounded bracts that surround the flowers. Russian Knapweed is poisonous to horses.

Russian knapweed emerges in early spring after soil temperatures remain above freezing. It produces 

flowers from June to August and sets seed in late summer to early fall. The seeds are viable for two to three years. Russian knapweed reproduces primarily from its root system. Buds on the horizontal roots can form adventitious shoots, August through the winter, that can grow to become independent plants. Once rosettes emerge in the spring, remaining root buds slough-off until they develop again in late summer. Additionally, root fragments can develop into new plants.

The most effective method of control for Russian knapweed is to prevent its establishment through proper land management. Maintain a healthy landscape and continually monitor your property for new infestations. If Russian knapweed is already established, using an integrated weed management approach proves to be effective managed with herbicides or biocontrol insects, but long-term control must include planting competitive plant species to occupy bare ground once infested by the weed.

CANADA THISTLE (Cirsium arvense) is a non-native, deep-rooted perennial that spreads by seeds and aggressive creeping, horizontal roots called rhizomes. Canada thistle can grow 2 to 4 feet in height. The leaves are oblong, spiny, bright green, and slightly hairy on the undersurface. Unlike other noxious biennial thistles which have a solitary flower at the end of each stem, Canada thistle flowers occur in small clusters of 1 to 5 flowers. They are about 1 cm in diameter, tubular shaped, and vary from white to purple in color.

Canada thistle emerges from its root system from late April through May. It flowers in late spring and throughout the summer. It produces about 1,000 to 1,500 seeds per plant that can be wind dispersed. Seeds survive in the soil for up to 20 years. Additionally, Canada thistle reproduces vegetatively through its root system, and quickly form dense stands. Each fragmented piece of root, 0.25 inch or larger, is capable of forming new plants.

The key to controlling Canada thistle is to eliminate seed production and to reduce the plant’s nutrient reserves in its root system through persistent, long-term management. Canada thistle is one of the most troublesome noxious weeds in the U.S. It can infest diverse land types, ranging from roadsides, ditch banks, riparian zones, meadows, pastures, irrigated cropland, to the most productive dryland cropland. Large infestations significantly reduce crop and cattle forage production and native plant species. It is a host plant to several agricultural pests and diseases.

Effective Canada thistle control requires a combination of methods. Prevention is the most important strategy. Maintain healthy desired landscape and continually monitor your property for new infestations. Established plants need to be continually stressed. Management options become limited once plants begin to produce seeds.

HOARY CRESS (Lepidium draba) is a member of the mustard family and native to Europe. The stems, in the rosette stage, may grow up to 2 inches in height and produce grayish-green leaves that are lance shaped. The leaves are alternate and 3/4 to 4 inches long. The upper leaves have 2 lobes that clasp the stem. The plant has numerous small, white flowers with 4 petals on stalks radiating from a stem. Seed capsules are heart-shaped with two small, flat, reddish brown seeds. One plant can produce from 1,200 to 4,800 seeds.

The plants emerge in early spring with stems emerging from the center of each rosette in late April. Hoary cress flowers from May to June and plants set seed by mid-summer. Habitats for Hoary Cress include: fields, waste places, meadows, pastures, croplands and along roadsides. It is typically found on unshaded, generally open areas of disturbed ground. It generally does better with moderate amounts of precipitation and grows well on alkaline soils.

The key to effective control of Hoary cress is prevention. Preventing the encroachment of these weeds is the most cost effective management. Preventing invasions by limiting seed dispersal, monitoring and using weed free hay, and quarantine animals that may have grazed in infested areas. Beyond prevention, the key is early detection when infestations are small, and aggressive management.

PERENNIAL PEPPERWEED (Lepidium latifolium) is an extremely invasive perennial forb introduced from Europe and Asia in 1900 as a containment in sugar beet seed. Pepperweed reproduces both by seed and vegetatively by roots and shoots. Root fragments as small as 0.5 inch can grow into new plants. A serious threat, pepperweed alters ecosystems by acting as a “salt pump” absorbing salts from deep in the soil. The plant then excretes the salt through the leaves and deposits it on the surface soil. Since most desirable plants do not tolerate high saline concentrated soils, the entire plant composition and diversity of the area changes. Growing 1 to 5 feet high, pepperweed has tiny white flowers. The flowers have four spoon-shaped petals in dense, rounded clusters on branch tips of erect stems. Stems emerge from deep, thick, woody root stocks that can penetrate 10 feet into the soil. Leaves of the mature plant are alternate, and lance or oblong in shape with serrated edges that are slightly wavy. They are glabrous (not hairy) and green to gray-green in color, with a distinctive white midrib. Upper leaves are smaller than basal leaves and have no stalks.

Perennial pepperweed invades a wide variety of habitats, from intermountain, mountainous areas and marshes. It is frequently found in riparian areas, wetlands, marshes, irrigation ditches, canals, and floodplains. If introduced, it can also invade roadsides, hay and alfalfa fields, and rangeland. It readily invades disturbed and bareground areas. It can thrive in either low or high-saline soils. Large monocultures and dense litter layers prevent native plants from regenerating. Pepperweed displaces native plants and wildlife habitats, reduces food quality for wildlife and reduces agricultural and pasture production.

Perennial pepperweed rarely produces seedlings in the field, even with extensive seed crops. Research is underway, but the lack of seedlings may be due to seeds rapidly losing viability in the field (but not in the laboratory). Reproduction is primarily from deep, perennial roots and root pieces which break off and sprout new plants. However, preventing seed production is still recommended until further research is done.

The key to effective control of Perennial pepperweed is preventing establishment of large populations. Early detection and removal of plants if found, is the key to prevention. Planting desirable and competing grasses and forbs can aid in limiting the spread of Perennial pepperweed. Herbicide treatments are a good option if used during the bud to flowering stage of the plant. Once established, containment is key.

For more information on the City’s Noxious Weed Management Plan or to report noxious weeds, visit the cityofalamosa.org and 

click on the Parks & Rec Department.