Plant Profile: Fatoua villosa

Mulberryweed, belonging to the Moraceae family, is an upright, branched annual plant that thrives in summer. It bears a resemblance to a young mulberry seedling, but its stems and leaves are covered in hair, unlike the smooth stems of mulberry saplings. The leaves are arranged alternately and have a roughly triangular shape with serrated edges. The flowers appear in feathery clusters located in the leaf axils, starting as purple and gradually turning dark brown as they mature. This plant typically blooms from late spring until early fall, after which it dies off following frost. Its seeds are forcefully ejected, often traveling over four feet. Remarkably, seedlings can begin to flower and produce fruit just 12 days after developing two leaves. Seeds can germinate from early spring through late fall, leading to multiple generations within a single year. As a result, while certain preemergence herbicides can effectively manage this species, populations may still proliferate without rigorous sanitation efforts. The effectiveness of herbicides on mulberryweed is assessed based on limited experimental findings.