Weed Identification

Weed Identification is the second program/software development project on rice, which is intended to work in conjunction with Weed Control Advisor program. Weed Identification program is designed to help rice producers to identify the weeds they might encounter in their rice fields.

Weed Identification includes thirty-seven common weeds in rice production. The help is provided by displaying images relevant to each weed. The program uses over two hundred images, but none of them are integrated with the program. In other words, the images are located in external files and are opened/read by the program when required.

Weed Identification program does not require user's input. Instead, by asking questions about the characteristics of the problem weed, it tries to deduce the weed name. If the user is not very familiar with the characteristics used to describe the weed, Weed Identification offers to display an image to make the current characteristic clear.

The following table summarizes the characteristics and the possible alternatives which are used to identify the weeds in Weed Identification program.

*Characteristic*	*Alternatives*
Leaf environment	Above the water, Floating/Submerged
Leaf presence	Present, Absent
Leaf type	Simple, Compound
First true leaf	Simple, Compound
Leaf shape	Broad, Narrow
Leaf veins	Parallel veins, Network of veins
Leaf petiole	Long, Short
Flowers	As big as leaves, Smaller than leaves
Blade shape	Arrowhead, Broadly ovate
Leaf length vs. width	Length more than twice width, Length less than twice width
Cotyledons shape & color	Maroon tinged with two lobes, other
Cotyledons type	Lanceolated, Broad
True leaf margin	Serrate, smooth
Leaf quality in the center	Purple blotches, No purple blotches
Leaf emergence	Leaf emergence staggered, Leaf emergence opposite from each other
Leaf ligule	Present, Absent
Leaf sheath hairs	Present, Absent
Blade hairs	Present, Absent
Leaf margin	With distinct hairs, Without distinct hairs
Sheath & blade hair location	Hairs near plant's base, other locations
Hair density	Dense, Sparse
Sheath & blade texture	Rough, Smooth
Leaf Emergence	3 leaves emerging at a time, 2 leaves emerging at a time, 1 leaf emerging at a time
Stem height	Shorter than basal leaves, Taller
Seed color	Pale yellowish, Brown
Leaves below flowering head	1 leaf below flowering head, 3-5 leaves below flowering head
Leaf shape	Triad of fleshy pointed leaves, Other leaf shapes
Leaf production pattern	Leaf emergence opposite each other, Leaf emergence staggered each other
Mode of reproduction	Reproduces vegetatively, Reproduces by seed
Underside of first leaf	Whitish, Other
Leaf length compared to width	Leaf length more than 10 times width, Leaf length less than 10 times width
Leaf shape	Narrow, Broad
Leaf width size	Very narrow and small leaves, Other
Means of reproduction	Reproduction by seeds, Reproduction by cell division or spores
Leaf petiole	Long and reddish-tinged petiole, Other
Leaf veins	Many distinct veins, Other

Weed Identification program also has a direct option to display images associated with a particular weed. This option can be used to get more information about the identified weed or just to learn about other weeds. The number of help images associated with each weed varies. The following are the overall type of images offered for different weeds:

Achene, Bracts, Chara Plant, Collar Region, Cotyledon, Early Seedling, Filamentous, Flower, Flower and Fruit, Flowerhead, Flowering Plant, Fruit, Immature Plant, Immersed Seedling, Infestation, Information (text not picture), Late Seedling, Leaf, Ligule, Mass, Mature Leaf, Mature Plant, Newly Emerged Seedling, Ocrea, Older Seedling, Plant, Plant Base, Pod, Rhizomes, Rhizomes and Tubers, Seedhead, Seedhead Close-Up, Seedling, Seedpod, Seeds, Spikelet, Stem, Stem Close-Up, Underground Stems, Wind Buds, Young Leaf, Young Plant and Young Seedling

The following is the list of the weed names included in Weed Identification program:

Algae, Alligatorweed, Arrowhead, Barnyardgrass, Bearded Sprangletop, Burhead, California Arrowhead, Cattail, Cocklebur, Common Waterplantain, Crabgrass, Dayflower Asiatic, Ducksalad, Early Watergrass, Eclipta, Eisen Waterhyssop, Flatsedge, Goosegrass, Gregg's Arrowhead, Hemp Sesbania, Jointvetch, Knotgrass, Lady's Thumb, Late Watergrass, Morningglory, Naiad, Pale Smartweed, Pondweed, Redrice, Redstem, River Bulrush, Roughseed Bulrush, Roundleaf Waterhyssop, Signalgrass, Smallflower Sedge, Spikerush, Texasweed, Waterhyssop and Yellow Nutsedge.

Document Author:	Suna Bozkurt
Send mail to	Suna Bozkurt
Photos:	AESRG
Revised:	October 28, 1998
Copyright � 1997 AgroEcoSystems Research Group, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY