Georgians Help Needed to Locate Harnful Weed

The Georgia Forestry Commission is asking for the public’s help to stop a harmful weed from spreading statewide. Cogongrass is a non-native weed that has taken over millions of acres in the southeast. It flourishes in numerous soil types and chokes out natural vegetation, which significantly reduces tree and plant regeneration, wildlife habitat, forage and ecological diversity. Cogongrass is extremely flammable and difficult to eradicate, due to its dense root system.

Within Georgia, there are 23 state, federal and private groups that have formally partnered to locate and destroy infected sites and educate landowners about the threat. The Georgia Forestry Commission offers free eradication treatments to landowners who have Cogongrass. The GFC also partners with other member states of the Southern Group of State Foresters (Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina) to combat the invasive weed regionally.

Cogongrass was first introduced into the United States near Grand Bay, Alabama in 1911 via seed in grass packing materials used in shipping containers from Southeast Asia. It has spread throughout Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida and has now been found in 28 Georgia counties.

The grass is most easily recognized in the spring flowering and seeding period (March through May in Georgia) when the white fluffy seeds are produced and dispersed. Cogongrass has sharp pointed, scaly rhizomes with a very dense root system, and grows in a circular-shaped pattern. It also has an off-centered midrib on leaf blades that measure between one and five feet.

“Our purpose as a group is to address the short and long term negative effects of Cogongrass in
Georgia,” said Robert Farris, Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission. “We want the public to report sightings of this dangerous weed so that our teams of Professionals can take the necessary measures to bring this threat under control.”

The Cogongrass threat is considerable because of the weed’s aggressive and destructive nature. A
single plant can produce up to 3,000 seeds, which spread easily in the wind. Individual, underground rhizomes or pieces of rhizomes can sprout new plants as well. Rhizome pieces are easily transported to new areas in contaminated soil, hay, sod, or on equipment, launching still more infestations. The roots and rhizomes of Cogongrass are fire-tolerant, but leaves and flowers of the plant are extremely flammable, creating a fire hazard for firefighters and citizens living in rural areas.

Residents who suspect they have found Cogongrass should contact their local GFC office and avoid mowing or disking through or near the area to avoid further spread. Photographs and more information about Cogongrass can be found on the GFC website at GaTrees.org.

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Spring’s best time to find invasive cogongrass

Cogongrass can completely take over a forested area, smothering out all other vegetation and changing the ecosystem. It’s a widespread problem in several Southern states. But not in Georgia -- yet, says a University of Georgia forestry expert.

From now until early summer, its fluffy, silvery seed heads will wave like flags marking spots in the forest, along roadways or other places in Georgia where cogongrass has taken a hold, said Dave Moorhead, co-director of the Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health on the UGA Tifton, Ga., campus.

“Right now, no other grass in Georgia has that kind of seed head,” he said. “It’s the best time of year to find it and start measures to control it.”

Moorhead, along with 22 public and private partners in the Georgia Cogongrass Task Force, has spearheaded state-wide trainings to help UGA Cooperative Extension agents and county road crews identify cogongrass.

“County road crews out on equipment are more likely to see infestations, especially this time of year,” Moorhead said.

Since arriving as packing material aboard cargo ships landing in Alabama a century ago, the invasive grass has moved throughout that state, Mississippi and Florida, where it covers more than a million acres. But its spread in Georgia has been limited and slow, he said.

The likely reason is that cogongrass was planted as livestock forage for several years in the states that now have problems with it, but not in Georgia. And it’s best to keep it that way, he said.

The grass can grow any place that isn’t permanently wet. It’s even saltwater tolerant. Once it has a foothold in an area, the grass can be very difficult to kill, he said.

“You can’t control it with a single herbicide treatment. You can’t treat once and just walk away,” he said. “It’s an ongoing treatment for many years to eliminate it from an area.”

To date, cogongrass has been identified on 220 sites in 28 Georgia counties. The largest site is 10 acres. “But we know there are more sites out there,” Moorhead said.

To learn more about the grass and how to identify it, go to the Web site cogongrass.org. If you see a suspect site, contact your local UGA Extension office by calling 1-800-ASK- UGA1.

By Brad Haire
University of Georgia


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