Subject: Help with invasive plant

From: [email-masked] (heidi crandall)
Date: 4 Apr 1995 16:39:46 GMT

I have an invasive plant that is just starting to poke it's little leaves
through the layer of leaves in the 'wooded' section of our yard.  When we
moved into our house last year, it had already taken over the back 1/4 of
our property and was also in isolated groups around the rest of the yard.

The plant grows on one stalk and has 3 divisions that are again divided into
three toothed leaf(lets).  The flowers resemble the local weed, Queen Anne's
Lace (wild carrot - 'Daucus carota') - flat, white, umbrella-like.  The
plant resembles Golden Alexander ('Zizia aurea') but the flowers are white.
The stalk is green, fleshy (like celery ) with a tinge of red.  When broken
it has a pungent, cheap-aftershave smell.

It spreads by running it's roots no more than 1 inch into the ground.  Each
new plant starts out of 'nodule', and more roots start at this 'nodule.'

If I pull out a plant without removing the roots, it produces at least 5 new 
plants. I've had some success by removing the entire root system, but that
may be hard to do over a 1/4 acre!  The previous owners of the didn't help
the situation by taking the weed wacker to the plants in the late summer.  I'm 
sure this caused most of the spreading problem.  My neighbor managed to kill
the ones encroaching on her yard with 3 applications of Roundup.

Does any one have any ideas how to control, contain and irradicate portions
of my 'weed patch?'  

Thanks!

-- 
Heidi Crandall
work: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI >>> [email-masked]
play: Northville, MI, zone 5