Alfalfa

Fall planting

• Burclover
• Curly dock
• Goosegreass
• Persian speedwell

• Poison hemlock
• Swinecress
• Thymeleaf speedwell

Spring planting

• Bermudgrass
• Dandelion
• Dodder species

• Field bindweed
• Johnsongrass
• Nutsedge

Avoiding fields with weed infestations—Fall planting

Burclover
(Medicago polymorpha): Pea family; summer annual. Seed leaves oblong; first true leaf rounded with single leaflet; later leaves with characteristic clover-like shape.

Burclover
(Medicago polymorpha): Pea family; summer annual. Trifoliate leaves resemble those of clover and usually have reddish-tinged midveins. Small, bright-yellow flowers form in clusters at the end of stems.

Curly dock
(Rumex crispus): Buckwheat family; perennial. Seed leaves succulent and 3 times longer than wide; young seedlings vary in color, from entirely green to red-tinged in cooler months; petioles of young seedlings ribbed with bases extending onto stem.

Curly dock
(Rumex crispus): Buckwheat family; perennial. Mature plant with characteristic jointed stems, a membranous sheath at the leaf base, and usually swollen nodes; can be 2 to 5 feet tall.

Goosegrass
(Eleusine indica): Grass family; summer annual. Ligule thin, membranous and appears torn; collar region with a few sparse hairs; no auricles; leaf blades smooth and folded.

Goosegrass
(Eleusine indica): Grass family; summer annual. Appears as a whitish, silvery mat, forming a pale green clump with flattened stems in a low rosette; leaves with a short membranous ligule—blades are flat or folded and 1/8 to 1/3 inch wide.

No photo available
Persian speedwell  
(Veronica persica): Figwort family; winter annual; seed leaves are oval to triangular in shape and almost as long as they are broad; although similarly shaped, the first true leaves are larger and either shallowly toothed or smooth around the edges.

Persian speedwell
(Veronica persica): Figwort family; winter annual; leaves are roundish or oval; upper leaves arranged alternately along the stem; lower leaves arranged in pairs; small, deep blue flowers with white centers are borne on stalks, 3/8 to 1 inch long; entire plant is covered with hairs; mature plants low growing when mowed frequently.

Poison hemlock
(Conium maculatum): Carrot family; biennial. Seed leaves light green, 3 to 5 times as long as wide, with prominent veins underneath; first true leaves smooth and deeply cut 2 to 3 times like a parsley leaf; when crushed has parsnip-like odor.

Poison hemlock
(Conium maculatum): Carrot family; biennial. Leaves are divided 2 to 3 times into deep lobes or toothed segments; lower leaves have short stalks, flattened at the base that partially envelop stems; stems have purple markings upper leaves have short stalks or are stalkless; white sepaless flowers are borne on umbrella shaped clusters.

Swinecress
(Coronopus didymus): Mustard family; winter annual; seed leaves light green, narrow, long, widest at tip; first true leaves club shaped with two notches (teeth) around margin; leaves and stems slightly hairy; distinct skunk-like odor.

Swinecress
(Coronopus didymus): Mustard family; winter annual; leaves divided into narrow segments, somewhat hairy, and may be toothed; lower leaves grow on short stalks; upper leaves sessile; stems branching and prostrate; flowers white and tiny; seed pods deeply wrinkled and develop 2 lobes when mature.

Thymeleaf speedwell
(Veronica serpyllifolia): Figwort family; perennial; seed leaves spatulate to oblong; first true leaves opposite, entire, sessile, and lack hairs; older leaves can be more elliptic or ovate in shape and regularly dentate.

Thymeleaf speedwell
(Veronica serpyllifolia): Figwort family; perennial. Lower leaves opposite, oval to roundish, on short petiole, with smooth or fine-toothed margin and often 3-veined from the base; upper leaves alternate, sessile, and smaller, oval to elliptic; stems almost entirely creeping; small white to pale-blue flowers with darker blue lines, borne on stalks.

Avoiding fields with weed infestations—Spring planting

Bermudagrass
(Cynodon dactylon): Grass family, perennial. First leaves with somewhat rough surface; ligule present; tuft of long hairs on either side of ligule; stem flat, wiry, and without hairs.

Bermudagrass
(Cynodon dactylon): Grass family, perennial. Look for dense mats with spreading and branching stolons that root at nodes.

Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale): Perennial. Seed leaves green-yellow, smooth, ranging from circular to oval to spatulate; young leaves without hairs and usually gray-green on lower surface, alternate, form basal rosette, and spatulate or oval with long petiole; margins of third true leaf wavy with irregular, widely spaced teeth.

Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale): Perennial. No visible stem; leaves with deeply serrated margins, cluster in rosette at plant base; flowering stalks 6 to 24 inches long and terminate in a compound inflorescence; seeds enclosed singly within fruiting bodies, attached to a long slender stalk that terminates in a parachute-like structure.

Dodder species
(Cuscuta spp.): Morningglory family, summer annual. Leafless or with small scalelike triangular leaves about 1/16-inch in length; stems slender, twining or threadlike; vary in color from pale green to yellow or bright orange.

Dodder species
(Cuscuta spp.): Morningglory family, summer annual. Flowers bell-shaped, cream colored and small (about 1/8-inch long); usually occur in clusters but occasionally borne singly.

Field bindweed
(Convolvulus arvensis): Morningglory family; perennial; seed leaves nearly square, with shallow notch at tip; early true leaves spade shaped; petioles flattened.

Field bindweed
(Convolvulus arvensis): Morningglory family; perennial; leaves are spade or bell-shaped, lobed at base, and attached to flattened petioles; stems trail on ground or climb on upright plants; trumpet-shaped white to purplish flowers close each afternoon and reopen the following day.

Johnsongrass
(Sorghum halepense): Grass family; perennial; first leaves with white midvein, 8 times longer than wide and rolled in bud; ligule membranous below and fringed or toothed above; no auricles.

Johnsongrass
(Sorghum halepense): Grass family; perennial; leaves have prominent whitish midvein, which snaps readily when folded over; flower head is large, open, well-branched, and often reddish tinged; grows in spreading, leafy patches that may be as tall as 6 to 7 feet.

Nutsedge
(Cyperus spp.): Sedge family; perennial.
First leaves inconspicuous and grasslike; grow mainly from tubers or "nutlets" formed on rhizomes, mostly in upper foot of soil.

Nutsedge
(Cyperus spp.): Sedge family; perennial.
In cross section, leaves V-shaped, arranged in sets of three at base, and stems triangular.