I'm Ron Patterson with Utah State University Extension and Weber and Morgan
counties. Weeds do not recognize property boundaries, and are really everybody's
problem. Today's Weed Warrior topic is myrtle
spurge, or donkey tail. You may ask 'Why is he wearing those silly nitrile gloves?'
The reason is because of this sap right here: all parts of the myrtle spurge are
toxic or poisonous, and this sap is very attractive to children. They get that on
their skin, it can cause some severe blistering and even blindness, so you
want to keep this away from children and do not touch that sap; keep that off of
your skin. One of the biggest problems with spurge is that it escapes
cultivation; it gets out into our sensitive, arid, Utah environments and we
end up with a 'scourge of the spurge.' And it out-competes our native plants and is
not useful for anything other than landscape. Livestock don't eat it, wildlife
don't eat it, and so it just kind of is a real big problem out in the
native environment of Utah. Spurge seedlings, just like these little tiny
myrtle spurge, this is actually the best time to pull these up is when their
seedlings; then you can get them before they send that taproot down. Myrtle
spurge is a simple perennial, meaning that it doesn't really spread by roots,
but it does have a tap root. That goes down quite deep, and so in order to
control it by digging it up, you need to take out as much of that tap root as you
can. After you dig it up be sure you bag it and throw it away - don't compost it,
don't try to keep it around, throw it away. The flower on myrtle spurge is
really inconspicuous - it's this thing right in here.
When this is flowering, what we think is a flower, is actually these bracts and
they are a bright yellow color - these are a little bit spent so they're kind
of turning pink, but it's a bright yellow bright color and it's actually quite
attractive. After flowering, the myrtle spurge forms this seed pod and the
seeds mature. Once they mature, the seed pod ruptures and spreads these seeds;
it will fling them out about 15 feet. It spreads predominantly by seed, so the
key to control is to stop it from going to seed. The roots will reproduce, or
they'll send off shoots, so if you dig that you may have to dig it several
years in a row. Those seeds will last about eight years in the wild; they're
out in - in nature, so it'll take several years of control to get this under
control. Prevention is always the best control
option that we have and so if we're running ATV equipment out in the - on the
hills and things like that be sure to clean it; especially if you've been in an
area where there's some noxious weeds such as myrtle spurge. Myrtle spurge is
not usually an issue in cultivated fields and so you don't see it in hay;
you don't really have to worry about whether or not you're feeding myrtle
spurge seed to - in your hay but...but keep your equipment clean, keep your tools
clean, and try to keep that seed from getting spread from one spot to another.
Water is a pretty obvious way when you have this erosion coming down the
hillside that myrtle spurge will follow that water, and you can see in these
landscapes where it's escaped that it's come down the hill, and you can see the
myrtle spurge kind of trailing out into the waterways. There are no known
biological controls for myrtle spurge and there really aren't any good
cultural controls as well, so we're stuck with mechanical removal or with
herbicides. Legally you don't have to pull it out of your landscape but it is
illegal to propagate or sell myrtle spurge in the state of Utah, so if you
keep it in your landscape cut off the seeds and it won't spread. But it's not
the best option in the world, the best option is just get rid of it. So if your
non-herbicide options aren't working for you then you can use glyphosate which is
a non-selective herbicide - it's Roundup, Killzall, there's lots of names for
glyphosate - glyphosate is the common chemical name but that works fairly well
as a non selective option. Homeowners can use a broadleaf weed control such as 2 4-D
or dicamba; you have to be careful using those products -
if it's going to be over 85 degrees for the next three days after you spray it
it can volitalize and move to non- target plants, so you have to watch
temperature. Out here in the range situation in our sensitive, arid
environment Plateau is a product that can be used to control myrtle spurge. And
then for those who have pesticide applicator licenses the Tordon, Tordon 22k
is another product, but you have to have a pesticide applicators license
in order to use that product. We can win this war against myrtle spurge; it'll
take a concertive effort and several years to get these under control, so be a
good neighbor: be a Weed Warrior.