Flanagan, T R

Raleigh, S M

Veatch, C

English

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Faculty & Staff Scholarship 12-1-1962 Life History of Quackgrass NERBul365 S M. Raleigh T R. Flanagan C Veatch Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications Digital Commons Citation Raleigh, S M.; Flanagan, T R.; and Veatch, C, "Life History of Quackgrass NERBul365" (1962). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 3179. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/3179 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by The Research Repository @ WVU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty & Staff Scholarship by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact beau.smith@mail.wvu.edu. The research reported in this bulletin was conducted as part of the inves-tigations of the regional weed research technical committee under NortheastRegional Project NE-42 "Weed Life Cycles, Soil Micro-organisms and Lightas Factors in the Control of Weeds in the Northeast".AUTHORSPennsylvania   ........................................................................... S. M. RALEIGHVermont  …………………………………………………….T. R. FLANAGANWest Virginia  ……………………………………………. COLLINS VEATCHCooperating Agencies and PersonnelNortheastern Agricultural Experiment Stations:Connecticut (Storrs)                                            R. A. Peters, N. C. YocumDelaware                                   E. M. Rahn, 0. M. Bundy, W. F. Donnalley Maryland                                P. W. Santelmann, J. A. Meade, N. C. Glaze Massachusetts                 W. H. Lachman, J. W. Durfee, W. C. Lincoln, Jr. New Hampshire                                                          S. Dunn, G. WilliamsNew Jersey                                    W. S. Meggitt, R. 0. Inicki,, T. F. TisdellNew York, Cornell, Agronomy    S. N. Fertig, M. Alexander, A. D. Rovira                                                               P. Hirsch, K. Burger, I. C. MacRaeNew York, Cornell, Vegetable Crops                                        R. D. SweetPennsylvania                           S. M. Raleigh, C. W. LeFevre, C. O. ClagettRhode Island                                         R. S. Bell, T. E. Odland, E. LarssenVermont                                          T. R. Flanagan, T. Ming, A. R. LangilleWest Virginia               C. Veatch, C. H. Bear, M. D. Welch, W. P. PennellAdministrative Advisors                             R. M. Kottrnan, H. R. FortmannUnited States Department of Agriculture:Cooperative State Experiment Station Service, A. J. LoustalotCrops Research Division, A. R. S., W. V. Welker, W. C. ShawWPCO 4M 11-622CONTENTSIntroduction  ………………………………………………………………………4Variation in Quackgrass …………………………………………………………..4Seed Production and Germination ……..................................................................4Emergence of Quackgrass Rhizomes ................................…………..................   6Rhizomes Growth…………....................................................................................6Seasonal Changes in Rhizomes................................…….......................................8Water Loss from Rhizomes ..................................................…..............................8Plant Growth......................................................................…………………..........8Growth Inhibitors in Quackgrass ……....................................................................9Summary ........................................................................................................…….9Literature Cited  ..................................................................................................  103LIFE HISTORY STUDIES AS RELATED TO WEED CONTROLIN THE NORTHEAST4 - QuackgrassINTRODUCTIONQuackgrass (Agropyron repens (L) Beauv) is an aggressive perennialweed that spreads by seeds and rhizomes. It is a native of Europe (17) andwas introduced into the Northeast before 1751, probably in mixed grass seeds.This serious plant pest is widely distributed throughout the northern half ofthe United States and southern Canada. Quackgrass competes severely withforage crops because of its ability to grow in cool fall and spring weather. Itsgrowth characteristics are not fully known because of variability in clones, butfindings reported herein appear fairly well established.Quackgrass was originally called Triticurn repens by Linnaeus (12). Theinflorescence arrangement is similar to that of wheat. From 2 to 8 florets perspikelet are arranged alternately on a rachis. Agropyron repens has been crossedwith wheat (4).Much work has been done on quackgrass control (1) (5) (8) (13) (18)by cultivation. Efforts of this kind have been much more successful in the lesshumid sections of the United States where the rhizomes will dry out quicklywhen exposed on the surface of the soil. Frequent cultivation reduces nutrientreserves which also will kill the plants. Studies on root reserves have been re-ported by Arny (2), Pinckney (16) and Le Baron and Fertig (10). Quack-grass rhizomes can be killed by exposing them to freezing temperatures.Variation in QuackgrassWhen reproduced from seed quackgrass, being cross pollinated, is subjectto great genetic variation. This adds to the difficulties in controlling this pest.Reproduction by rhizomes produces quackgrass plants similar in all character-istics.Some quackgrass plants are light green color, while others are dark greenwhen grown under similar nutrient and soil conditions. Some lines are pube-scent and others glabrous. The lower nodes of the rachis are occasionally short,but may be hairy or smooth. The outer glumes and lemmas may be blunt orhave awns with varying lengths. In a few lines (clones) the rachises end in ter-minal spikelets. The plants vary greatly in height and length of the spikeletwhen grown under similar conditions. In some clones, the spikelets remain to-gether when harvested and others the spikelets break up into individual florets.Quackgrass produces a growth inhibitor which affects associated plants4and may effect the quackgrass itself. Much variation is evident among clones inquantity of inhibitor produced.Much variation also appears in the production of seed; some lines pro-duce little while others have heavy seed production.Some clones are easily killed by herbicides while others appear to be littleinjured by such applications.Seed Production and GerminationThe majority of quackgrass culms produce spikes, which are generallybetween 3 to 6 inches long. The number of caryopses per spike varies with in-dividual clones. Some clones produce no caryopses, while others have up to 60per cent of their florets filled. Each spikelet always ends with a sterile floret. Insome clones the spikelets break off as units, while in others each individual floretseparates easily. This seemingly trifling adaptation makes quackgrass hard toclean out of many field crop seeds.In a drill box survey in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Campbell andAlcKee (3) collected 268 samples of spring oats. Sixty samples containedquackgrass seed of which 22 germinated, thus giving an average germination of4.3 per cent. In these oat samples many of the quackgrass florets contained ergotbodies. In 3 samples of winter wheat seed, the quackgrass germinated 6 per cent.By means of careful air separation the sterile florets were removed so that the lotsfrom the wheat germinated 49 per cent.Quackgrass in 20-seed lots was planted in the greenhouse by Ming (14)at 2 inch depth intervals to a maximum depth of 8 inches deep. The soil, asandy loam, was autoclaved before use. The container holding the soil was aconcrete tank. Twelve seeds germinated and emerged from 2 inch of soil, 8from 1 inch, 3 from 12 inches, 6 from 2 inches, 2 each from 22 and 3 inches,and 1 each from 32 and 4 inches. Similar autoclaved soil was used in the samemanner in the field except a larger concrete tank and 100 seeds were plantedat each depth. Seventy-three germinated and emerged from 2 inch of soil, 11from 1 inch and 4 from 12 inch. Some seeds buried at greater depths in thesoil germinated but died before emerging.      Quack grass seeds which had been placed in soil between plastic and alum-inum screens and buried in Hagerstown soil 6 inches deep in July were dugDecember 1 at University Park, Pa. The majority of the seeds had germinated;roots on the seeds were about : of an inch long. One seed appeared alive butthe growing point and roots were dead so it made no growth when put in theseed germinator. One seed out of 200 germinated in the germinator.Quackgrass was included in a buried seed experiment reported by Tooleand Brown (20). The seeds were buried in clay pots in 1902. Twenty-one per centof those buried 8 inches deep had germinated in 1903, or 11 months after5the experiment started. No quackgrass seed was found germinated at thisdepth in later investigations. Of those seeds buried 22 inches, 73 per cent hadgerminated in 1903 and 1 per cent more in 1905. Of those buried 42 inches, 67per cent had germinated in 1903, 19 per cent more in 1905, 1 per cent morein 1908, and 2 per cent more in 1912. No seeds germinated in 1918 or lateryears.Emergence of Quackgrass RhizomesThe depth from which new quackgrass plants will become establishedfrom rhizomes depends upon the type of soil and the length of the rhizomes.In old quackgrass sods the rhizomes generally are at the 2-to-3 inch depthand frequently the internodes are about 2 to 1 inch long.All lengths of rhizomes became established in the field equally well inPennsylvania experiments when planted 12 to 2 inches deep. Short rhizomes(: to l2 inch) grew poorly when covered 3 to 4 inches. Only long rhizomes (6inches) established plants from the 6 inch depth. Under greenhouse conditionsall lengths of rhizomes became established at 1-to-2-inch greater soil depths thanin the field. (Figure 1)Figure 1  Effect of depth of seeding and planting on quackgrass emergence.Rhizome GrowthIndividual nodes of quackgrass were planted at University Park, Pennsyl-vania late in the fall of 1958 in soil which had been well manured in the spring.6On May 27, 1959, the soil was removed to plow depth to within 3 inches of theoriginal quackgrass node of 7 plants. At this time 3 plants had 2 rhizomes; 3plants, 3 rhizomes; and 1 plant, 5 rhizomes. Theaverage length was 9.7 inches. The end of eachrhizome was marked with a wire then measuredfrom this wire on June 5. Growth of rhizomesaveraged 10.3 inches during the 9-day period.Growth from June 5 to 12 was 7.9 inches. FromJune 12 to 20 the average growth was 5.1 inches.By this date one of the rhizomes had turned upto produce a new plant. From June 20 to 27 theaverage growth was 3.3 inches, the majority ofthe rhizomes had turned up to produce newplants, and the first bud at a node behind eachshoot was sending out a new rhizome.(Figure 2)     On September 9, 1959, one of these plantswas dug. The diameter of spread of its rhizomeswas 10 feet and 10 inches; 14 rhizomes hadoriginated from the parent plant. The totallength of rhizomes was 458 feet and 3 inches.Two hundred and six shoots had arisen fromthe rhizomes and two hundred and thirty twoadditional growing points were found in the soil,making a total of 440 branches arising from theparent plant.      Fifteen spikes of quackgrass were evident atthis time on the parent plant. The tallest culmwas 29 inches. The dry weight of the rhizomes164.5 grams or 62.1 per cent of the total plant.The parent plant weighed 34.5 grams or 13.0per cent of the total weight of the new growth.Plant from rhizomes weighed 66.0 grams or 24.9per cent of the total. The longest inter-nodelength was 3.5 inches. Many of the rhizomeswere at the bottom of the furrow slice.Figure 2 One year's growth of a quackgrass plant from                a single node. There are 14 rhizomes arising                from the parent plant with a total length of                458 feet yardstick on the left).7Seasonal Change in Quackgrass Rhizomes        Effects of PBA, dalapon and amitrole applications on the osmotic pressure,electrical conductivity and pH of quackgrass rhizome sap, and the total nitro-gen and hygroscopic capacity of, dried rhizomes, from May 17 through October15, are reported by Welch and Veatch (21). Characteristic seasonal curveswere developed for all five specific factors studied. The herbicide treatmentsaccentuated the variation in some of these factors but did not appreciablymodify the seasonal curves.Water Loss from RhizomesIn a series of experiments by Ming (14) rhizome sections were placedunder controlled humidity conditions. Two temperature levels in combinationwith 3 vapor pressure deficits offered a series of relative humidities rangingfrom 0 to 100 per cent. Initial water loss was at a rapid constant rate, apparent-ly conforming to Thornthwaite's (19) concept of vapor pressure deficit, thatevaporation is dependent on the relation between the amount present and theamount that can exist in the atmosphere under the prevailing conditions. Fol-lowing this initial moisture loss, the rate of loss from the sections decreased atwhat appears to have been a constant rate until point of death, at which themoisture content of the rhizomes remained constant at a level probably again inequilibrium with the vapor pressure deficits.Survival rates decreased with water content, but were not correlated withamounts or rates of water loss. Evidently other factors, such as temperature,age of cutting, status of bud dormancy, etc., also affect survival. Possibly deathby desiccation occurs sooner at higher temperatures under the same humiditydeficit levels, and death occurs sooner under drier conditions at the same tem-perature levels.Plant GrowthRhizomes from 15 fields, 5 each from Vermont, West Virginia and Penn-sylvania were planted in 1958 at one location in each state. The tallest cloneaveraged about 42 inches and the shortest clone about 16 inches.Fertilizer applications were applied each spring to a quackgrass sod laidout in a 3x2x3 design with 4 replications in West Virginia. Nitrogen was animportant factor influencing quackgrass hay yield. Plots receiving no nitrogen,phosphate, or potash yielded 4.17 tons in 1958, 1.99 tons in 1959, 1.40 tonsin 1960, and 2.87 tons in 1961. Nitrogen additions to quackgrass sods producedsignificantly higher yields each year. Nitrogen fertilization increased the nitro-gen content of the grass and the protein production per acre.8Growth Inhibitor in QuackgrassThe presence of a substance in quackgrass that is toxic to plant growth hasbeen reported by Osvald (15), Helgeson (7), Hamilton and Buchholtz (6),Kommedahl, Kotheimer and Bernardini (9). An attempt to identify the in-hibitors by LeFevre (11) is summarized as follows:Aqueous extracts of quackgrass rhizomes inhibited the root growth of sev-eral crop species. The inhibitor was soluble in polar solvents, partly soluble insemipolar solvents, and insoluble in nonpolar solvents. It was dialyzable andnonvolatile. It was not removed from solution by Norite or a cation exchangeresin (Dowex 50), but was absorbed to anion exchange resins (Dowex 1, Duo-lyte A-4). Separation by paper chromatography revealed two components, oneof which was further separated on celluose and silica gel columns. Infrared andultraviolet spectra revealed that it was a non-aromatic compound, containedhydroxyl and carboxyl groups of low molecular weight. A second substance wasseparated with ion exchange, paper chromatography and Norite. Its infraredspectrum was similar to that of the first compound. Complete identification ofthe causative factors will require further work.SUMMARYLife history studies of quackgrass in a cooperative undertaking by the ex-periment stations of Vermont, West Virginia and Pennsylvania demonstratedmuch variation in plant growth and seed production. Some quackgrass seedsplanted 12 inches deep in the field germinated and emerged, while many ofthose planted deeper, germinated but did not emerge from the soil. The length ofrhizome sections will influence the depth from which quackgrass establishesnew growth. An individual quackgrass plant produced more than 458 feet ofrhizomes in one season. The presence of two toxic compounds in quackgrassrhizomes was demonstrated.9LITERATURE CITED1. Arny, A. C. 1915. Quackgrass eradication. Minn. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 151.2. Arny, A. C. 1932. Variation in the organic reserves in underground parts of peren-nials weeds from late April to November. Minn. Agr. Expt. Sta. Tech. Bull. 84.3. Campbell, H. and G. McKee. Drill box survey in Centre County, Pennsylvania.(unpublished data).4. Cicin, N. V. 1937. The problem of perennial wheat Herb. Abstr. 7:14-15.5. Dunham, R. S., K. P. Buchholtz, L. A. Derscheid, A. H. Grisby, E. A. Heigerson,and D. W. Staniforth. 1956. Quackgrass control. Minn. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 434.6. Hamilton, K. C. and K. P. Buchholtz. 1935. Effect of rhizomes of quackgrass (Agro-pyron repens) and shading on the seedling development of weedy species. Ecology36:304-308.7. Helgeson, E. A. 1956. Quackgrass root extract has puzzling effect on seeds of cropplants. N. D. Agr. Expt. Sta., Bimonth Bull. 18:191-192.8. Kephart, L. W. 1931. Quackgrass. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bull. 1307.9. Kommedahl, T., J. B. Kotheimer and J. V. Bernardini. 1959. The effect of quack-grass on germinating and seedling development on certain crop plants. Weeds 7:1-12.10. LeBaron, H. M. and S. N. Fertig. 1962. The effects of chemical and cultural treat-ments on the survival of rhizomes and on the yield of underground reserves of quack-grass.Proceedings Northeastern Weed Control Conference 16:290-298.11. LeFevre, C. W. 1961. Concentration of a growth inhibitor from Agropyron repena,,(quackgrass). PhD. Thesis, Pennsylvania State University.12. Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. Species plantarum. p. 86.13. Lowe, H. J. and K. P. Buchholtz. 1952. Cultural methods for control of quackgrass.Weeds. 1:346-351.14. Ming, T. 1960. Some physiological studies on quackgrass, Agropyron repens L.M.S. Thesis, University of Vermont.15. Osvald, H. 1947. Equipment of plants in the struggle for space. Vaxtodling 2:288-303 (in Swedish, English summary).16. Pinckney, A. J. 1945. Composition and vitality of quackgrass roots. North DakotaAgr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 334.17. Piper, C. V. 1924. Forage plants and their culture. The Macmillan Company.18. Etoa, T. E., V. Sturlaugson, and H. F. McColly, 1930. Control of quackgrass by till-age. N. D. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 244.19. Thornthwaite, C. W. 1940. Atmosphere moisture in relation to ecological problems.Ecology 21:17-28.20. Toole, E. H. and E. Brown. 1946. Final results of the Duvel buried seed experi-ment. Jour. Agr. Res. 72:201-210.21. Welch, M. D. and C. Veatch. 1962. Some effects of herbicides and season on therhizomes of quackgrass. Weeds 10:15-17.10

Life History of Quackgrass NERBul365

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Life History of Quackgrass NERBul365

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