plastic bags. The plants mold and deteriorate inside the plastic, making identifi- 

 cation and diagnosis more difficult. Put the specimen in a suitable container for 

 shipping. Most county Extension Advisers have special containers for this purpose. 

 Contact your adviser if you need help. 



Most people can readily identify common weeds. We usually get the tougher ones. To 

 help us identify these, please send as much of the plant as possible- -including the 

 roots, leaves, stem, and flowers or seed heads. Most taxonomic keys are based on 

 floral characteristics. Hence, including the flowers or seed heads is helpful, es- 

 pecially for the less-common weeds. 



Here are some useful references that you may want to add to your library to help with 

 weed identification: 



* Weeds of the North- Central States, Illinois Circular 718, available from the Office 

 of Agricultural Publications, 123 Mumford Hall, University of Illinois at Urbana- 

 Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801. 



* Weeds of the Northeast — Aids to Their Identification by Basal-Leaf Characteristics , 

 by C.E. Phillips, Field Manual No. 1, January, 1956, University of Delaware Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, Newark, Delaware. 



* The Identification of Certain Native and Naturalized Grasses by Their Vegetative 

 Characters, Publication No. 762, May, 1950, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, 

 Canada. 



* The Identification of 76 Species of Mississippi Grasses by Vegetative Morphology , 

 Technical Bulletin 31, May, 1952, Mississippi State College Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, State College, Mississippi. 



* Colorado Turf grasses, Circular 201A, Colorado State University, Extension Service, 

 Fort Collins, Colorado. 



* Legume Culture and Picture Identification and Picture Aids to Grass Identification, 

 Marion S. Hartwig, 109 Worth Street, Ithaca, New York. 



Here are a few tips to help you identify weeds: If the plant stem has a triangular 

 cross -section, it is probably a sedge, probably nutsedge (nutgrass) . If the stem is 

 square and the flowers are irregular in shape, chances are that it is one of the mints. 

 Bedstraw is one of the few other weeds that has a square stem. Milky juice is charac- 

 teristic of the milkweed and spurge families. 



PLANTS POISONOUS TO LIVESTOCK 



Whorled milkweed, water hemlock, poison hemlock, white snakeroot, pokeberry, black 

 nightshade, bouncing bet, dogbane, and wild cherry are just a few of the weeds com- 

 monly found in Illinois that are poisonous to livestock. If you find these weeds on 

 areas where livestock graze, start control measures right away. Prevention is better 

 than cure. The University of Illinois Circular Illinois Plants Poisonous to Livestock 

 is being revised, and should be available within the next year. 



ANOTHER USEFUL REFERENCE 



Using Phenoxy Herbicides Effectively, USDA Farmers' Bulletin 2183, is an extremely 

 helpful guide on the susceptibility of weeds to 2,4-D and other phenoxy herbicides. 

 This bulletin lists hundreds of weed species. You can request a single copy from 

 the Weeds Extension Office, N-305 Turner Hall, Urbana, Illinois 61801. 



