Leafy spurge: Biology and management

TL;DRAbstract

L.: Euphorbiaceae) is a te-nacious, alien, perennial weed that is designated noxious in both the Idaho Noxious Weed Law and the Idaho Seed Law. It was intro-duced into Massachusetts before 1872 and has since spread west-ward in the northern United States and Canada. It has caused an es-timated $7 million loss per year in U.S. beef and hay production de-spite the more than $10 million per year spent for its control. It is not a weed of economic signifi-cance in its native Europe, proba-bly because of native parasites. Leafy spurge was first found in Idaho in the early 1900s. Extensive infestations now occur in Camas, Clark, Custer, Elmore, Fremont, Kootenai and Washington counties. It has been reported in all other counties except Ada, Adams, Canyon, Lewis, Payette, Power and Shoshone. Leafy spurge competes so well in the northwestern United States that it often forms dense stands that nearly exclude all other non-woody vegetation. Leafy spurge thrives in gravelly mountain soils and doe

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