Weed Inspections
On an annual basis, Agricultural Services conducts weed inspections throughout Greenview for species identified under the Weed Control Act as a specific threat to market access, agricultural economic success, or potential environmental damage. The plants on this list are separated into either noxious species, which are required to be controlled, or prohibitive noxious species, which are required to be destroyed. When species under this act are identified, Agricultural Services will make every attempt to work with the landowner, occupant, or leaseholder to ensure compliance with the Weed Control Act. Inspectors will call to let those impacted by infestations know and to offer assistance aimed at long-term control of infestations.
Greenview has established various assistance programs that ratepayers can choose to access in the effort to control or destroy these plants.
Resources
Greenview Weeds of Concern
The Alberta Weed Control Act contains a list of 46 Prohibited Noxious weeds and 29 Noxious weeds. Although the Act outlines 75 designated weed species, Greenview does not have them all! Below, we have outlined some of Greenview Weeds of Concern.
If you notice any of the mentioned species or think you may have discovered a newly introduced species in our area, please give us a call at 780-524-7621, and we would be happy to assist with identification and/or control options.
Alberta Invasive Species Plant Guide
Note: Copies of these guides are available at the Greenview Agricultural Services Office.
Scentless Chamomile
Scentless Chamomile can behave as an annual, biennial, or sometimes a perennial, but reproduces by seed only. Plants are usually very bushy and have a fibrous root system. It continually blooms, forms seed, and seeds germinate throughout the growing season: fall seedlings overwinter and are usually first to flower in spring. Native to Europe, it was introduced as an ornamental and/or a contaminant in crop seed. This is not the chamomile used for tea as it is scent-less. A single, robust plant can occupy one full square metre and produce up to one million seeds. Scentless Chamomile and Oxeye daisy are often mistaken for each other as the flowers are nearly identical, but the leaves are very different. Both plants are weeds – there are no native white-flowered daisies in Alberta. It can also be confused with stinking mayweed or pineapple weed, but the foliage of these two plants has an odour.
Scentless Chamomile Fact Sheet
Greenview has significant infestations of this plant, with a concentration in the hamlets of Grovedale, Grande Cache, and industrial areas. To report a sighting, or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Tall Buttercup
Perennial that spreads only by seed. Tall buttercup contains a bitter, irritating oil called protoanemonin that is toxic to livestock (especially cattle) and other grazing animals. While generally avoided by grazers, poisonings can occur when fresh stems and leaves are consumed. Dried plants are no hazard as the toxic oil evaporates quickly. In mild cases, tall buttercup causes irritation or blistering of the skin, mouth and digestive tract. Fresh tall buttercup, or hay in some cases, consumed by lactating animals can result in the production of less milk and may turn the milk a tinted red color and give it a bitter taste. Animals tend to avoid grazing tall buttercup if given a choice, but this may also allow it to dominate. Tall buttercup is an alternate host for Anemone Mosaic and Tomato Spotted Wilt virus.
Greenview has significant infestations of this plant, with a concentration in the Little Smoky area and increasing occurrences through Greenview and in crown lands. To report a sighting, or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Oxeye Daisy
Oxeye Daisy and the very similarly flowered Scentless Chamomile can be considered conspicuous, as there are no native whiteflowered daisies in Alberta. Often perceived to be a ‘pretty’ wildflower, this non-native is an aggressive invader. Oxeye daisy is a perennial that spreads primarily by seed, but also by shallow, creeping roots (rhizomes). Individual plants can produce over 500 seeds that are viable in the soil for 2-3 years or more.
The greatest impact of oxeye daisy is on forage production in pastures and meadows. Cattle avoid oxeye daisy and therefore any pasture infested with dense stands of oxeye daisy will decrease forage available for grazing. Dense stands of oxeye daisy can decrease plant diversity and increase the amount of bare soil in an area.
Greenview has moderate infestations of this plant within the municipality, concentrated in pastures, hay lands and yards. To report a sighting, or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
White Cockle
White cockle was introduced from Eurasia and is often confused with bladder campion (not hairy, not sticky) or night-flowering catchfly (hairy, upper stems sticky). White cockle is not sticky on any part of the plant. It is a short-lived perennial (sometimes biennial) native to Europe. Plants are either male or female, so not all plants produce seeds. White cockle prefers full-sun and rich, well-drained soils. Hayfields are a frequent habitat of this invasive plant – compounding the problem as weed seed gets distributed in baled forage.
Greenview has moderate infestations of this plant within the municipality, concentrated in pastures and hay lands. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Wild Caraway
Wild caraway is a biennial plant, producing a low-growing rosette of leaves in its first year of growth and then a flowering stalk (bolt) in the second year – it can even bolt and flower a third year before dying. It develops a narrow, parsnip-like taproot with black skin and a white core. This is the same plant that produces the caraway spice used in rye bread and as an ingredient in some liquor. All parts of the plant are edible. Native to Eurasia, it has escaped cultivation as a spice crop in Canada.
Greenview has taken steps to elevate Wild Caraway to the Weed Control Regulation within Greenview boundaries as the municipality is experiencing an increase in the infestations of this plant in pastures and hay lands. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Common Tansy
Common tansy is a perennial forb that reproduces by both seed and short rhizomes (underground horizontal roots). Introduced from Europe in the 1600s, its pungently aromatic foliage has been used medicinally, as an insect repellant, and for embalming. Common tansy forms dense stands, and the plants contain alkaloids that are toxic to both humans and livestock if consumed in large quantities. Cases of livestock poisoning are rare, though, because tansy is unpalatable to grazing animals.
Greenview has moderate infestations of this plant within the municipality, concentrated in pastures, hay lands, and within our crown lands. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Kochia
Kochia is a drought-tolerant plant with a deep root, which tends to grow in very dry, disturbed sites. Kochia outcompetes crops, swallows up acres of pasture and hay lands, and may be poisonous if consumed. It was introduced as a garden ornamental from Asia in the early 1900s and since has spread widely across the United States and into Canada. Since that time, the invasive plant has developed multiple herbicide-resistant populations and costs prairie agricultural producers millions of dollars a year in lost yield and control efforts. Due to these realities, Greenview has elevated Kochia to the Weed Control Regulation within the boundaries of the municipality.
Occurrences of kochia within Greenview are currently limited to transportation corridors and empty industrial sites. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Bull Thistle
Native to Eurasia, the Bull Thistle thrives in full sun and can tolerate a wide range of conditions through Greenview. It is easily distinguished from the Canada Thistle by its large pink to purple droplet-shaped flower head that can be up to 5 cm in diameter. The plant is a biennial that reproduces by seeds, with a basal rosette produced in the first stage of growth and a flowering stem in the second. Large rosette, leaves are wrinkled, coarse hairs on the upper side and soft hairs on the underside, deeply lobed and up to 30 cm long with 1 cm spine on each tip. Stems are up to 1.5 m tall and branched. Greenview has elevated Bull Thistle to the Weed Control Regulation within the boundaries of the municipality.
Greenview has moderate infestations of this plant within the municipality, concentrated in pastures, hay lands, and within our crown lands. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Burdock Species
An introduced biennial that forms a rosette of leaves the first year, and large, stout flowering bolt with many branches the second year. It prefers areas with moist fertile soils –riparian areas – and recent soil disturbance. Its prickly seed heads are designed for dispersal, readily attaching to whatever animal may brush past (Burdock was the inspiration for the invention of Velcro by George de Mestral in the early 1940’s). Common Burdock produces burrs which can entangle in the manes and tails of horses and the wool of sheep and can damage and de-value the wool of sheep. Several instances have been documented where birds and bats have become entangled in the burrs and died.
Greenview has moderate infestations of this plant within the municipality, concentrated in pastures, hay lands, forestry cut blocks, industrial sites, and within our crown lands. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.
Sulphur Cinquefoil
A long-lived perennial that reproduces by seed, but also vegetatively by shoots emerging from woody rootstocks. Over time, the annual re-sprouting from the main root becomes several closely spaced individual plants circling the old, decaying root. Some plants in long-term infestations have been estimated to be nearly 20 years old. Sulphur cinquefoil can self-pollinate, and seedlings quickly mature into blooming plants. It is able to invade and dominate pasture/range that is in good condition. Native to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, it was introduced to North America sometime before 1900 and has been observed to out-compete some knapweed species.
Greenview has found one infestation of this plant within the municipality near Grande Cache. Due to the severity of the plant and its potential for spread, we have added the plant to Greenview’s awareness listing. To report a sighting or for information on how to control this plant, please contact the Agricultural Services Department at 780-524-7621.