Winter flowers and small leaves with serrated edges lead to identification as Camellia sasanqua. Photo: J_McConnell, UF/IFAS
A common diagnostic service offered at your local UF/IFAS Extension office is plant identification. Whether you need a persistent weed identified so you can implement a management program or you need to identify an ornamental plant and get care recommendations, we can help!
In the past, we were reliant on people to bring a sample to the office or schedule a site visit, neither of which is very practical in today’s busy world. With the recent widespread availability of digital photography, even the least technology savvy person can usually email photos themselves or they have a friend or family member who can assist.
If you need to send pictures to a volunteer or extension agent it’s important that you are able to capture the features that are key to proper identification. Here are some guidelines you can use to ensure you gather the information we need to help you.
Entire plant – seeing the size, shape, and growth habit (upright, trailing, vining, etc.) is a great place to begin. This will help us eliminate whole categories of plants and know where to start.
Stems/trunks – to many observers stems all look the same, but to someone familiar with plant anatomy telltale features such as raised lenticels, thorns, wings, or exfoliating bark can be very useful. Even if it doesn’t look unique to you, please be sure to send a picture of stems and the trunk.
Leaves – leaf color, size and shape is important, but also how the leaves are attached to the stem is a critical identification feature. There are many plants that have ½ inch long dark green leaves, but the way they are arranged, leaf margin (edges), and vein patterns are all used to confirm identification. Take several leaf photos including at least one with some type of item for scale such as a small ruler or a common object like a coin or ballpoint pen; this helps us determine size. Take a picture that shows how leaves are attached to stems – being able to see if leaves are in pairs, staggered, or whorled around a stem is also important. Flip the leaf over and take a picture of the underside, some plants have distinctive veins or hairs on the bottom surface that may not be visible in a picture taken from above.
Flowers – if flowers are present, include overall picture so the viewer can see where it is located within the plant canopy along with a picture close enough to show structure.
Fruit – fruit are also good identification pictures and these should accompany something for scale to help estimate size.
Any additional information you are able to provide can help – if the plant is not flowering but you remember that it has white, fragrant flowers in June, make sure to include that in your description.
Learning what plants you have in your landscape will help you use your time and resources more efficiently in caring for you yard. Contact your local UF/IFAS Extension office to find out who to send requests for plant id.
Leaf wilt may indicate more than just dry soil. Photo by Beth Bolles
Plants have specific ways of telling gardeners that there is a problem, but not all plant symptoms lead us directly to the cause. During drier conditions, we often use wilting leaves as an indicator that water is needed. This can be a reliable symptom that the soil is lacking moisture but it is not always the case. Wilting leaves and herbaceous branches actually tell us that there is not adequate water in the plant. It does not necessarily indicate lack of moisture in the soil.
There can be many reasons why water is not being absorbed by roots and moved to tissues in the plant. The obvious place to start is by checking soil moisture. If soil is powdery several inches deep around the plant, water is likely needed. However, if you ball the soil up in your hand and it holds together, there may be another reason for lack of water reaching the upper plant parts. The harder part is determining why the root system is not taking up water. Causes can be a rotted root system from too much water, a poorly developed root ball that has circling or kinked roots, and even problems in the soil such as compaction. Insects, diseases, and other pathogens can also injure root systems preventing the uptake of water.
Too much water can cause roots to decay, preventing the uptake of water. Photo by Beth Bolles
So before automatically grabbing the hose or turning on the sprinkler, do a little soil investigation to make sure that the plant wilt is really indicating lack of water in the soil. If you need help in your diagnosis, always contact your local Extension office.
Driving through rural panhandle counties this time of year, one finds pastures with thick green canopies, exploding with yellow-gold flowers. Perennial peanut is in bloom. This is a highly nutritional forage option for livestock and also makes for a beautiful urban groundcover alternative to turfgrass.
Perennial Peanut Field. Photo credit: Ray Bodrey, UF/IFAS.
Perennial peanut was introduced from Brazil in the mid 1930’s. Though a non-native, the perennial peanut has not been shown to be a nuisance nor an invasive. The plant is in the same genus as the peanut that humans consume. However, this plant is a true perennial, living year to year. Perennial peanut does produce a small seed pod. But rhizoma perennial peanut, Arachis glabrata, does not reproduce by seed. Therefore, wildlife, specifically birds, are unable to disburse the plant into unintended areas.
As a side note, few perennial peanut cultivars, such as Arachis pintoi or “pinto peanut”, can be planted by seed. This species has stolons or “runners” and will produce adventitious roots at the nodes. The pinto peanut has become confused in nursery trade with the Florida-developed perennial peanut. Limited research to date has shown how well pinto peanuts perform as groundcover. The pinto peanut is more susceptible to winter kill, insect damage and nematodes than the cultivar Arachis glabrata.
The Florida developed perennial peanut is used mostly for hay or grazing by livestock such as horses, beef & dairy cattle, sheep and goats, as well as wildlife such as deer, rabbits and turkeys. The most common cultivars for pastures are “Florigrazed” and “Arbook”. These cultivars were released by UF IFAS and USDA in 1978 and in 1985. Since the release, these cultivars have also has been used in citrus groves as a cover crop as well as a ground cover in roadway medians. In Florida, it has been planted on approximately 30,000 acres.
Perennial peanut is high in nutritional value and is easily digestible by forage animals. It’s also a nitrogen fixer. Like all legumes, perennial peanut obtains its nitrogen from a bacteria associated with the plant’s root system. Therefore, it naturally adds nitrogen to the soil, reducing the amount of fertilizer needed if used with other crops or plants in a landscape.
Perennial peanut will reach ½ – 1 ½ feet in height. The plant is propagated using rhizomes and can be purchased as mats of sod or in containers. With its extensive root system, rhizoma perennial peanut spreads across the ground as a sod grass would perform. Perennial peanut grows best in sandy to sandy loam soils with a target soil pH of 6.0 although a soil range of 5.8 – 7.0 is adequate. It requires high moisture, with at least 30 inches of rain per year.
In home landscapes, several cultivars are available and have limited maintenance issues. “Ecoturf” and “Arblick” are the most popular cultivars used due to their lower height and profuse flowering. These cultivars thrive in coastal areas as they are considered salt tolerant. Salt spray, drift and short term salt water flooding have little effect. Mowing is not required but edging may be needed as the plant spreads. Weed control is the most concerning, especially during establishment. For pest management, peanut stunt virus cases have been reported. The symptoms are leaf mottling and yield depressions, but are rarely a problem unless the plant is under drought or nutrient stress.
All information considered, perennial peanut is a great option for panhandle livestock producers or the home landscape enthusiast.
Supporting information for this article can be found in the UF/IFAS EDIS publications:
Tropical sod webworms have been active in local lawns during the past few weeks here in North Florida. All of our warm season turf grasses are susceptible to these pests.
Sod webworms are not consistently a problem every year. Some years their numbers are low enough that they are not a problem. Some years we do not see them at all. Those years when they are a problem, it’s usually not until late summer and early fall that they become active and they may continue to feed on lawns until frost occurs.
Fall armyworm. Photo credit: Frank Peairs Colorado State University, bugwood.org.
Fall armyworms and sod webworms can attack at the same time. Sod webworms are the smaller of the two species, reaching a length of about ¾ inch. Armyworms grow to ½ inch in length. Both of these caterpillars are greenish when young, turning brown at maturity. Armyworms generally have a light mid-stripe along their back with darker bands on either side of the mid-stripe. Their feeding is similar, resulting in notched or ragged leaf edges.
Sod webworms tend to feed in patches while armyworms cause more scattered damage. Sod webworms feed at night while armyworms will be seen feeding during the day. Sod webworm caterpillars rest, curled up near the soil surface during the day. Adults of both species are fairly small grayish to brown moths.
If your lawn has damaged spots, look closely for notched leaf blades from their chewing. You may first notice a patch in your lawn that looks like it has been mowed extra low. Closer inspection reveals grass blades that are chewed away. Caterpillar feeding on zoysiagrass shows up more as translucent whitish tan areas on the surface of individual blades more so than as notched blades.
Fall armyworms and sod webworms can be controlled with the same insecticides as the other lawn insects. But you also may use insecticides that contain Bacillus thuringiensis; a bacterium that only kills caterpillars. Control should only be directed against the caterpillars, not the non-feeding, flying adult moths. Always follow the label directions and precautions for any pesticide you use.
Sometimes when we talk about the size of things we like to estimate and don’t worry too much about being precise, but there are times when as little as a half inch really is a big deal. When talking about landscape maintenance and pest management that half inch can be crucial.
Here are three examples of when less than an inch may be significant.
Bermudagrass lawn cut at half-inch different height. Photo: Julie McConnell, UF/IFAS
Mowing your turf. If you read Mowing Matters last month, you saw mowing height recommendations for common turf types grown in north Florida. We gave a range of heights, but besides referring to the handy chart, you need to pay attention to your specific site. If you begin to mow and the current setting is too low, shut down the mower and adjust the height.
In this picture you can see that just raising the deck up one-half inch prevented the entire yard from being scalped and put under additional stress. After less than a week of proper irrigation the scalped area recovered and the yard looked uniform to casual inspection.
Treating Mole Crickets. The common knee-jerk reaction to seeing adult mole crickets during a mating flight is to treat the lawn. However, when you see the adults they are past the stage of being susceptible to most pesticide treatments. It is also too early to target the next generation – after all you are witnessing mating flights, so time is needed for egg maturation, hatching, and nymph development and feeding before treatment will be effective. Depending on several factors such as temperature and soil moisture nymphs will become active anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months after adults are seen.
Adult and nymphs of mole crickets. Photo: Julie McConnell, UF/IFAS
Before applying any pesticides, be sure to scout for appropriate life stage (nymphs approximately ½ inch long) and action thresholds of mole crickets by performing a soap flush (details can be found here Mole Cricket IPM Guide for Florida).
Turf Irrigation. It is important to calibrate your irrigation system and make sure that each turfgrass zone is putting out a minimum of one-half inch of water uniformly.
Why this amount? Research has shown that in most Florida soils application of one inch of water will reach the top twelve inches of soil. Healthy turfgrass roots are typically found in the top 4-6 inches of soil, so by applying one half-inch of water per irrigation cycle you should deliver water to turf roots.
To see an example of how to calibrate your system watch this short video demonstration by Dr. Laurie Trenholm, UF/IFAS Turfgrass specialist.
