Graphic By Andrew Burleson

Killer weed may be problem for ranchers

By: Chelsea Sledge

Posted: 7/6/04

Even when Yoda was a freshman living in the dorm, he kept a little potted plant. Chris Mueller, a senior finance major, is affectionately called Yoda by his friends for his extensive knowledge about plants.

"My parents own a whole lot of farm and ranch land in south Texas," Mueller said. "I have always had plants wherever I live and probably always will."

For Texans such as Mueller, the recently discovered tropical soda apple weed is of deep concern.

The weed, also known as "the plant from hell" and "Sodom's apples" was recently discovered to have infested Jasper County, located just north of Orange.

"The county agent from Jasper County called me in late May," said Mary Ketchersid, an Extension Specialist. "I identified it and said 'You're
absolutely right! It's soda apple.'"

Soda apple is a weed with round leaves and thorns on the top and bottom. The stem is sprinkled with cat claw-shaped thorns, and fruit that looks like a watermelon about the size of a quarter grows beneath the leaves. Often the weeds can be confused with horse nettle, but the flowers on horse nettle are usually purple, Kerchersid said.

This weed causes a problem because it is perennial and extremely tough to kill.

"It takes over and the grass doesn't grow," Ketchersid said. "It's covered with thorns and the animals eat the fruit which spreads the weed. In effect you lose your land. It's an expensive situation."

To average consumers, this weed could have little effect on their lives.

The cattle industry, the largest industry in Texas, will be hit the hardest.

If the problem cannot be contained, the price of beef could increase due to the cost of treating the weeds, Ketchersid said.

"In an extreme situation there could be a quarantine on Texas beef," Ketchersid said. "But we are nowhere near that."

Soda apple originates in South America, particularly in Brazil. The seeds were deposited in Florida in the 1980s and infested the southern states.

However, until May the weed was not in Texas.

"It's been coming toward us from Florida, and we've been watching it actually," Ketchersid said.

The weed is thought to have been carried to Texas during the drought in 1998 when some hay, which may have been contaminated with the weed, was purchased from Louisiana.

"I heard some stuff about this weed at home. I know a lot of land is not clean, but it's hard to get how bad this stuff really is until you see it," said Shaun Herbert, a junior wildlife and fisheries science major and resident of Jasper County.

Luckily, Texans are able to treat the infestation more easily than those living in Florida. The groundwater in Florida is so close to the surface that herbicides necessary to treat the soda apple would contaminate the water.

"We're hoping it's in that one place only," Ketchersid said. "If it has a good foothold, it could really be a problem for a long time."