We published this booklet last July. Please let us know what you think by responding our five questions in the link provided below. The first 25 respondents WILL RECEIVE a copy of the guide. Additionally…first five to take the survey and ID the weeds in the cover of the booklet will also get a Navy Blue UA Vegetable IPM HAT.
There are abundant resources for weed identification of mature plants. These include very complete guides such as “Weeds of California and Other Western States” by Joseph DiTomaso published by University of California. “An Illustrated Guide to Arizona Weeds” by Kittie F. Parker with excellent drawings by Lucretia Breazeale Hamilton. There are also several phone apps for weed identification. However, the cotyledons of weeds frequently have a different shape than the true leaves, which makes identification of seedlings difficult for some species. The purpose of this pocket booklet is to provide a quick reference with good images that can be carried in your truck to help you identify the most common broadleaved weeds in Southwestern and Central Arizona.
The method for identification presented is not by using a dichotomous key or answering complicated questions about the species. The idea is to leaf through the booklet and find images that match plants you see in the field. If there are unusual characteristics, we note them in our comments for each weed. Here is a link to the guide in PDF format: HERE