OTPS EXAM PLANT IDENTIFICATION AND WEED
MANAGEMENT: ALABAMA 2026
Goosegrass - Answers - Summer annual grass; silver crabgrass; thrives in compacted
soil area; germination may be 4 to 6 weeks later than crabgrass; lower stems strongly
flattened and crown in silver-white; at maturity, 4 or 5 flattened finger-like seed heads
produced at end of stems.
Large Crabgrass - Answers - Summer annual; germination late March to early April;
fibrous root system and roots at lower nodes; lower stems flattened, pale green, with
hairy sheaths that form unsightly patches.
Chickweed - Answers - Winter annual broadleaf weed which roots at nodes; creeping
habit of numerous branched stems forms dense patches; leaves are opposite, oval
shaped, and bright shiny green; white flowers are 5 pedaled (deeply notched);
appearing as 10 petals.
Carolina geranium - Answers - Winter annual broadleaf weed; simple leaves are deeply
divided or segmented; stems erect and much branched; basal cluster of leaves with
reddish-green hairy stems; bears cluster of white to pale purple flowers at end of stems.
Purple Nutsedge - Answers - Perennial sedge; smaller stems than yellow Nutsedge and
leaves have dull, blunt, or boat-shaped leaf tips.
Dandelion - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed with thick, fleshy orange taproot;
produces rosette of long, narrow variably lobed or serrated leaves; plants have no
stems and yellow flowers borne at end of long, bare, and hollow stalk; flowers mature
into round, white puffballs full of seeds.
Buckhorn Plantain - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed with taproot and strong lateral
roots; basal rosette of long, narrow pointed leaves that often twist or curl are produced;
leaf veins are ribbed or prominent on the lower surface; at maturity, leafless, hairy, and
erect stems are produced with dense, compacted, and tapered seed heads.
Dichondra - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed that spreads by slender, creeping
stems that root at the nodes; kidney shaped leaves grow opposite each other along the
horizontal stems; small, green and inconspicuous flowers produced along the stem;
thrives in moist soils but cannot tolerate freezing temperatures.
Wild violets - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed; plant has spreading or creeping
growth habit by rhizomes or stolons; leaves are heart-shaped, serrate and frequently
born directly from rhizome; violet or pansy like flowers of many different colors or
shades produced.
Common Greenbriar - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed; woody vine with occasional
thorns; woody convoluted rootstock that must be removed manually or mechanically;
MANAGEMENT: ALABAMA 2026
Goosegrass - Answers - Summer annual grass; silver crabgrass; thrives in compacted
soil area; germination may be 4 to 6 weeks later than crabgrass; lower stems strongly
flattened and crown in silver-white; at maturity, 4 or 5 flattened finger-like seed heads
produced at end of stems.
Large Crabgrass - Answers - Summer annual; germination late March to early April;
fibrous root system and roots at lower nodes; lower stems flattened, pale green, with
hairy sheaths that form unsightly patches.
Chickweed - Answers - Winter annual broadleaf weed which roots at nodes; creeping
habit of numerous branched stems forms dense patches; leaves are opposite, oval
shaped, and bright shiny green; white flowers are 5 pedaled (deeply notched);
appearing as 10 petals.
Carolina geranium - Answers - Winter annual broadleaf weed; simple leaves are deeply
divided or segmented; stems erect and much branched; basal cluster of leaves with
reddish-green hairy stems; bears cluster of white to pale purple flowers at end of stems.
Purple Nutsedge - Answers - Perennial sedge; smaller stems than yellow Nutsedge and
leaves have dull, blunt, or boat-shaped leaf tips.
Dandelion - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed with thick, fleshy orange taproot;
produces rosette of long, narrow variably lobed or serrated leaves; plants have no
stems and yellow flowers borne at end of long, bare, and hollow stalk; flowers mature
into round, white puffballs full of seeds.
Buckhorn Plantain - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed with taproot and strong lateral
roots; basal rosette of long, narrow pointed leaves that often twist or curl are produced;
leaf veins are ribbed or prominent on the lower surface; at maturity, leafless, hairy, and
erect stems are produced with dense, compacted, and tapered seed heads.
Dichondra - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed that spreads by slender, creeping
stems that root at the nodes; kidney shaped leaves grow opposite each other along the
horizontal stems; small, green and inconspicuous flowers produced along the stem;
thrives in moist soils but cannot tolerate freezing temperatures.
Wild violets - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed; plant has spreading or creeping
growth habit by rhizomes or stolons; leaves are heart-shaped, serrate and frequently
born directly from rhizome; violet or pansy like flowers of many different colors or
shades produced.
Common Greenbriar - Answers - Perennial broadleaf weed; woody vine with occasional
thorns; woody convoluted rootstock that must be removed manually or mechanically;
