Keep an eye out for invasive teasel weed

Jackson County officials are asking residents to keep an eye out for teasel, an invasive plant that can get out of control quickly.

“Teasel is a very invasive plant that will take over your fields and roadsides,” said Scott Kieffaber, public works director. “If you happen to see it in Jackson County, please contact noxious weed department at 785-364-3459 before it gets out of hand.”

In late February, on the recommendation from Kieffaber, the Jackson County commissioners approved a motion to add common and cut-leaf teasel to the list of current noxious weeds in the county. 

Teasel was previously an optional noxious weed for counties in the state, Kieffaber said, but it’s becoming a bigger issue here now. 

Both common and cut-leaf teasel develop a large taproot in the rosette stage.

The rosette leaves in common teasel have wavy margins with spines on the underside and the stem leaves are large, oblong, prickly and have opposite forming cups around the stem that often hold water.

Common teasel can grow up to seven-feet tall and generally has dense, egg-shaped flower heads that grow individually at the tips of leafless stems. Flower color varies from pale purple, dark purple to white.

The rosette leaves in cut-leaf teasel are puckered with scalloped edges. The stem leaves are opposite and deeply lobed forming cups around the stem that often hold water.

Cut-leaf teasel can grow up to eight feet tall. Each of the many flowers in the egg-shaped flower head bloom only for one day. The flower has white petals connected into a tube with four lobes. Four stiff, upwardly curving bracts are located underneath the flower head. 

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