The Scott County Purdue Extension Offices has been getting some calls asking “What’s that purple crop growing in fields in our area?”
The answer is it’s not a “new crop” farmers are trying to grow for harvest, but most likely either the weeds henbit or purple deadnettle. Henbit and purple deadnettle are winter annual weeds in the mint family, and can be very noticeable in fields and landscape during the spring.
Around April the plants flower to form beautiful patches of purple color. These weeds tend to grow in disturbed soils and/or soils with reduced residue cover, including fields, gardens and alongside buildings. Although these weeds can provide some degree of erosion control and nutrient cycling, the biomass produced in the spring can delay drying of soils. Therefore, farmers must practice good weed control in a timely manner prior to crop planting in order to facilitate planting operations.
Identification of henbit and purple deadnettle can be challenging. Both species have square stems, characteristic of the mint family; however, henbit have sessile leaves in the reproductive stems (leaf attached directly to the stem), while purple deadnettle leaves are bore on petioles. Purple deadnettle leaves are also more triangular and have shallow lobes when compared to henbit. In addition, the upper leaves of purple deadnettle are often red to purple tinted, unlike henbit leaves.
If you as a homeowner have either of these weeds in your landscape, sometimes just pulling them and the usual accompanying green leafed winter annual weed called chickweed, will eliminate them. They will not grow back, and thus no chemical is needed to control them.
