Emergence and seed production of woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa) in legume forage crops

Abstract

Simard, M.-J., Nurse, R. E. and Darbyshire, S. J. 2015. Emergence and seed production of woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa) in legume forage crops. Can. J. Plant Sci. 95: 539–548. Woolly cupgrass is an annual grass of East Asian origin now present in North America, particularly in the US corn belt. The species was found in Canada in 2000 (southern Quebec). New, mostly small, populations have been discovered every year since 2007 and the species became a nationally regulated and quarantined weed in 2011. In order to evaluate the potential use of perennial legumes to reduce established populations, the emergence pattern, density, biomass and seed production of a woolly cupgrass population were evaluated in plots either kept unmanaged (control), in chemical fallow (treated with sequential applications of glyphosate) or cropped with alfalfa or clover from 2009 to 2011. Every year, woolly cupgrass seedlings started to emerge early (Apr. 29 to May 05) and continued to emerge over a 26- to 85-d period. All unma...