Identification of Mississippi Brush Weed

Soda Apple

• This weed, which is covered with thorns, has eggplant-like leaves and a yellow fruit the size of a golf ball. Tropical soda apple grows as high as 6 feet and is typically as broad as it is tall. According to Charles T. Bryson, botanist at the Southern Weed Science Laboratory in Stoneville, Mississippi, the fruit of this very aggressive weed resembles a small apple. The seeds are a reddish color and you may encounter about 150 in a single cow dropping. The plant is toxic to humans, but palatable to livestock and wildlife. As each plant has upward of 50 000 seeds, animals spread the weed easily. Soda apples produce more fruit in Mississippi than in Florida. This weed can also produce new plants from its branches, root segments and old crowns.

Charlock or Wild Mustard

• The stems of this annual weed typically exhibit stiff hairs that point down. Wild mustard seedlings are indented at the tip and have broad leaves. Mature plants have hairy, alternate leaves that are usually stalked near or on the lower section of the weed, but undivided and stalkless, near the top of the plant. The flowers develop in little clusters at the tips of branches and become elongated as the seed pods develop. The flowers of this weed are bright yellow.

Wild Oats

• Wild oats are an annual grass species and farmers consider it a weed in spring-seeded small grain crops. This weed produces flowers and seeds from the sixth to eighth month. The seeds can remain dormant for up to 10 years. Wild oats seedlings have leaves that twist counterclockwise, which is in the opposite direction to wheat. The leaves of this weed are hairy and have a slight, bluish hue. The color of wild oat seeds varies and some are more hairy than others. The emerging leaves of this plant are rolled.

Couch Grass

• Couch is a serious weed problem in cropland due to its rapid growth and persistent nature. This grass, which is the most widely found grass type in Mississippi, has a dense sod and spreads mainly through stolon growth. The stolons can grow at the rate of 6 feet in a single year. Couch grass adapts to different climates and soil types, which allows it to become firmly established in many regions.