Self-Soothing with Spotted Knapweed

I’ve been filled with many things during the pandemic, chocolate chief among them. One bite for every frustration, every tragedy, every this-can’t-be-happening-in-America wishful moment, and suddenly another wrapper is empty, another bar gone.

Spotted knapweed. Photo: Matt Lavin, CC-BY SA 2.0

It turns out you cannot eat your way out of a pandemic, nor out of the associated feelings of frustration, fear, and rage. But one thing you can do—to distract yourself and assuage the pain for at least an hour or two—is to yank this invasive bully out of the ground.

Vengeance is mine, and I hope it will be yours too.

Know thy enemy

The tyrant’s name is spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa), and it’s not the only noxious weed in Oregon, nor even the only knapweed, but it’s one of the worst because it quickly takes over large areas and performs the evil trifecta:

• Displacing more beneficial plants
• Causing erosion
• Increasing wildfire hazards

The spotted knapweed scourge spreads at an exponential rate, much like a certain virus you may have heard of. Every plant produces an average of 1,000 seeds, each of which can remain viable for more than seven years.

Fortunately, unlike coronavirus, you can actually see knapweed and physically attack it. Every time you wrench a plant from the ground and put in a bag, you’re flattening the curve and sparing us countless more knapweed outbreaks.

How to pull spotted knapweed

Rosie Cohen holding a bundle of spotted knapweed that she pulled in mid-August along Tumalo Creek. Photo: Marina Richie

To direct your existential rage in a positive direction, first register to vote. Then grab a pair of gloves and a garbage bag and head out on just about any popular trail in the Bend area. (In Portland, spotted knapweed isn’t as common as it is east of the Cascades, but there are plenty of other invasive plants, including other knapweeds, to pull.)

When you spy spotted knapweed (tips below), reach down to the very bottom of the stem, grip tightly, lean back, and gently but determinedly pull until you’ve rid the world of racism and misogyny. Or at least until the menace before you relents, the ground gives way, and you suddenly hold in your hands not only the aboveground parts but also the long taproot.

Ah, the satisfaction! Slaying this pink dragon is more soothing than a bar of dark chocolate with almonds.

Below are answers to a few common questions, which I hope will give you all the information you need to spend a couple hours directing your anger and indignation in a positive direction.

What does spotted knapweed look like?

Spotted knapweed blooms are usually pink to purple and about an inch across. Photo: Ed Keith

You can find a full description here, but in August and September in the Bend area it’s super simple: Look for a pink to purple bloom (sometimes white) with no yellow in the middle. If there’s yellow in the middle, it’s an innocent aster—don’t pull it!

Download iNaturalist’s wonderful Seek app, if you’d like to take a quick photo of a flower to make sure it’s spotted knapweed.

Why pull spotted knapweed now?

Because it’s blooming now, making it especially easy to identify. Along with the shaggy, inch-wide pinkish-purple blooms, note that these plants are 2-4 feet tall, with long stems and narrow leaves.

Spotted knapweed rosette. Photo: Ed Keith

A more advanced technique—and a more effective means of preventing regrowth of the plant—is to recognize and remove spotted knapweed before it blooms. You can do that next spring by learning to recognize the rosettes.

Pulling the blooming plants now, in August and September, also helps, even if it’s not 100% effective because some root fragments will remain and produce plants next year. My opinion is that pulling the blooming plants is a good idea because it teaches you where outbreaks are and what the plants look like, as well as awakening a sense of just how pleasurable it is to remove them.

But don’t bees like knapweed flowers?

Sure they do! Bees are to nectar as I am to chocolate. But knapweed crowds out other plants that would do a better job of feeding our hundreds of bee species. While pollinators may not be able to take the long view, we can.

Can I pull knapweed out and leave it beside the trail?

No, you have to take at least the flowers and seed heads with you, or else the seeds may continue to spread. Put the whole plants or at least the flowers and seed heads in a bag that you can tie off and put in the garbage.

Who can I call for help?

If you have a large outbreak or other questions about knapweed or other noxious weeds, call the weed specialists in your city or county. Contact info for Deschutes County is here.

Where can I find knapweed?

Spotted knapweed grows where it’s sunny or shady, moist or not—i.e., everywhere. You’ll see a lot of the plants in disturbed soil, like in ditches and beside trails and roads, as well as along streams. A group of us found hundreds at Shevlin Park, on the Aspen Hall side of the trail, and I’ve pulled them along the bike path next to Skyliners Road in Bend.

Is there any hope of getting rid of knapweed?

You can certainly rid small areas of spotted knapweed, but big picture? No, there’s probably not much hope of ridding Oregon of knapweed. Once you pull one plant, look behind you and you’ll find another one. And another. Battling noxious weeds requires years and often decades of persistent effort, and even then total eradication is rare. But I encourage you to persist. Individually, we cannot solve the knapweed problem writ large, but we can do a small amount of good in a world with a lot of bad.