Plant Monitor List

Plant Monitor List

Plant Monitor List

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board has a monitor list that it uses to gather information about plants that could be considered weeds in the future. Wendy Descamp, education specialist with the Noxious Weed Control Board, talks about how information is gathered on plants that might prove to be a problem in the state.

DESCAMP: What happens is we have a plant proposed for the monitor list. It's added to that list with a sponsor - so someone who's going to collect that information about the plant.

Descamp explains how the information collection process works.

DESCAMP: So, what happens is that person will track any occurrences of the plant, or if the plant's spreading, or if any research comes out about the plant they'll be the one to collect that information. And in the future, where it's seen the plant's spread, there may be a proposal for this plant to be listed as a noxious weed.

Descamp says that there is no legal or regulatory aspect to the monitor list, it's just a list to gather plant information. The bladder senna plant is an example that was recently added to the list.

DESCAMP: This was added to the list by Klickitat County. They have found a few plants of it there. It's a yellow flowering shrub in the legume family. So, this is a plant that we're looking to gather information about.

To date bladder senna is known to occur only in Klickitat, Okanogan and Spokane counties and can be found growing in disturbed areas, grasslands, woodlands and along roadsides. To find out how you can join the effort to protect Washington from noxious weeds visit the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board website at www.nwcb.wa.gov..

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.

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