Weed

:This article is about unwanted plants. For other meanings see Weed (disambiguation)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Weed is the generic word for a plant growing in a spot where it is not wanted. Weeds become of economic significance in connection with farming, where weeds may damage crops when growing in fields and poison domesticated animals when growing on pasture land.

Related Topics:
Plant - Farming - Crop - Animal - Pasture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many weeds are short-lived annual plants, that normally take advantage of temporarily bare soil to produce another generation of seeds before the soil is covered over again by slower growth; with the advent of agriculture, with extensive areas of ploughed soil exposed every year, the opportunities for such plants have expanded greatly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The notion of "wanted" is of course entirely in the eye of the beholder. A weed in one situation might be a wildflower in another. Some people love dandelions for their yellow buttons, like gold coins on the ground. Children enjoy blowing the puffball seed heads that form on the dandelion, and adults might utilize the dandelion root as an herbal medicine. In some areas, dandelion leaves, which are edible, are sold in certain restaurants or grocery stores. Yet the caretaker of a lawn will generally regard the dandelion as a troublesome weed in that situation.

Related Topics:
Herbal medicine - Lawn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~