Weeds
A brief post on 'weeds'.
As noted in the dictionary post above, the simple definition of weeds is any un-wanted plant, which self-seeded into an area where it was not desired, be that a garden or the middle of a farm crop.
The City's property-standards law doesn't really define weeds for muncipal purposes. It does state an acceptable length for grass however.
Provincial law, however, does define weeds, under the Weed Control Act.
Below are those plants listed as Noxious Weeds under the Act.
Please note this includes several native plants which are essential to eco-system such as Milkweed (the primary source of food and habitat for the Monarch Butterfly.
The list is very old, and is primarily meant to protect farms from fast-spreading plants which can over-run an agricultural crop.
Item
Common Name
Scientific Name
1.
Barberry, common
Berberis vulgaris L.
2.
Buckthorn, European
Rhamnus cathartica L.
3.
Carrot, wild
Daucus carota L.
4.
Colt's-foot
Tussilago farfara L.
5.
Dodder spp.
Cuscuta spp.
6.
Goat's-beard spp.
Tragopogon spp.
7.
Hemlock, poison
Conium maculatum L.
8.
Johnson grass
Sorghum halepense (L.) Persoon
9.
Knapweed spp.
Centaurea spp.
10.
Milkweed spp.
Asclepias spp.
11.
Poison-ivy
Rhus radicans L.
12.
Proso millet, black-seeded
Panicum miliaceum L. (black-seeded biotype)
13.
Ragweed spp.
Ambrosia spp.
14.
Rocket, yellow
Barbarea spp.
15.
Sow-thistle, annual, perennial
Sonchus spp.
16.
Spurge, Cypress
Euphorbia cyparissias L.
17.
Spurge, leafy
Euphorbia esula L. (complex)
18.
Thistle, bull
Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Tenore
19.
Thistle, Canada
Cirsium arvense (L.) Scopoli
20.
Thistle, nodding, spp.
Carduus spp.
21.
Thistle, Russian
Salsola pestifer Aven Nelson
22.
Thistle, Scotch
Onopordum acanthium L.
23.
Vetchling, tuberous
Lathyrus tuberosus L.
