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Species
Information
- meadow
knapweed
- Centaurea
debeauxii Gren.
& Godr.
- USDA
Symbol: CEDE5
- Oregon
Noxious Weed Designation: B, T
- Pictures
Identification:
Perennial; blooms midsummer to fall. Grows up to 3 1/2 feet tall. Lower leaves long-stalked, upper leaves have no stalk. Stems many-branched and tipped by a solitary flower head up to one inch wide. Flower heads pink to reddish purple. A key identifying feature is the fringed bracts on the flower head. A hybrid of black and brown knapweeds.
Impacts:
Meadow knapweed favors moist roadsides, sand/gravel bars, river banks, irrigated pastures, moist meadows, and forest openings. It invades industrial sites, tree farms, and grasslands. Its foliage is coarse and tough; but has been used as a forage on a limited basis. Meadow knapweed out-competes grasses and other pasture species, causing productivity to decline. It is susceptible to herbicide treatments, but control efforts must persist for the long-term. It has the potential to invade native prairie and oak savannah.
Biological
Controls: Some approved biological control agents released for other knapweeds have become established on meadow knapweed including a seed head fly, a seed head moth, and 2 seed head weevils. This plant is currently being tested as a host for other approved knapweed biocontrol agents.
Oregon
Maps of Meadow Knapweed Distribution
Links:
USDA
Plants Database information on meadow knapweed
GRIN
Database information on meadow knapweed
Oregon Department
of Agriculture information on meadow
knapweed
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