Early Weeds
linear silique, begin forming while the flowers are still opening. This rather fuzzy enlargement of the forming siliques shows them to be very like those of Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket - another member of this family). Each plant can produce an average of over three hundred thirty-five seeds. Seeds ripen and disperse from mid-June until September. Seeds are dormant upon ripening and require cold stratification to germinate. Once they have received this cold period, they germinate in incredible numbers, carpeting the area around the mother plants.
The plants spread only by seed; they are biennial and die after setting seed. Seed is not wind born, but generally ends up within a few yards (meters) of the mother plant. However, humans and mammals can carry the seed to new places on shoes, clothing, fur and birds eat the seed and distribute it in their droppings.
The seedlings closely resemble those of Lunaria annua (moneyplant - another member of this family).
Thousands of them germinate in early spring, whether covered by leaf litter or exposed on open soil. Of these, perhaps ninety-five percent will perish in summer drought. Of the remainder, some will die over winter, leaving about one percent to grow to maturity and flower the next year. This doesn't sound like much, but if you consider an acre of plants growing on about six inch (15.2 cm) centers and each producing copious seed, the resulting survivals can completely cover an area in very few years.
My research indicates that the best method of fighting this plant is not to let it set seed, as the seed viability in the ground is only about four years. If you can stop them from seeding, in two to five years you can pretty much eradicate them. But, Oh! what a task lies ahead for me. These plants grow from deep shade to sun, although they prefer nice woodsy soil in edge of woods environments. They are infesting my neighbor's no-man's land; they are all through our woods and probably the adjoining woods.
Burning has been used to combat them, but it takes at least two sets of fires to do the trick and this isn't really practical (don't want to lose my house!). Herbicides like Round Up are also effective, but will take care of any desirable plants growing under them (I've found Ariseama [jack-in-the-pulpit] being squashed under them). It would take a truck load of this
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