It is possible to admire the beauty, complexity or fortitude of a plant’s survival strategy and also recognize the harm it can do on a landscape and the need for its removal. This feeling doesn’t stop with knapweeds, either. I am quite fond of thistles, for instance! I never would have noticed the wonderful native thistles such as short-styled thistle (
Cirsium brevistylum) and edible thistle (
Cirsium edule) if I hadn’t started admiring the average bull thistle flower. There are a few different thistle types worth noting, like the plumeless thistles (
Carduus sp.) or the plumed thistles (
Cirsium sp.), with feathery branching pappus or the white latex exuding, and yellow-flowered sow thistle (
Sonchus sp.). I find them all worth the time to inspect and get to know! Even with my admiration of the floral parts, though, I still kill all the non-native Canada, Italian and bull thistles I come across in order to maintain habitat for the native plants with less aggressive survival tactics. Admiration and eradication can go hand in hand. There are many more examples of pretty weeds in our midst that are worthy of a quick close look before or after you uproot the plant. IAE has a helpful pocket-sized book titled “Field Guide to Weeds of the Willamette Valley” that can be purchased for a nominal fee from our
website.
