Pests! Sandspurs latching on in Elizabeth City

ELIZABETH CITY

Standing alongside Ehringhaus Street as traffic zipped by, cooperative extension agent Tom Campbell stooped to pull weeds topped with prickly burrs sharp enough to draw blood.

Holding the spiny cluster at eye level for better effect, Campbell warned Amy Wong, owner of Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, that this plant is known as sandspur, a pest new to Elizabeth City that must be eradicated now before it gets worse.

"This is a seed," he said. "If this gets on your tire or a customer's tire, it spreads."

Wong assured Campbell that her husband keeps the grass mowed in front of the restaurant. Campbell had pulled the weed in front of a vacant lot next to the restaurant.

But the weed spreads quickly. Clusters of sandspurs are growing in front of several other businesses along Ehringhaus Street, Campbell said. He has called several property owners and spoke to others in person.

Shortly after Wong returned to her restaurant, Campbell stopped two men walking along Ehringhaus Street to warn them. Sandspurs stick to socks, pants legs and shoes and spread, he told them. They nodded and moved on.

Sandspurs, the bane of the barefooted for decades in Dare and Currituck counties, typically grow in sandy soils that are low in nutrients. The plants can spread to playgrounds and ball fields where anyone falling in the wrong place gets punctured. Then comes the part, just as painful, where they must be extracted from the skin, leaving tiny blood spots where they came from and in the fingers that pulled them out.

Several spines jut from the seed for the purpose of sticking to whatever touches it so it can spread to other places. It's likely that sandspurs stuck on vehicle tires arrived in Elizabeth City just a couple of years ago, taking root in the grass between asphalt and sidewalks, Campbell said.

Campbell wants to warn the public about sandspurs while it's still early. At least seven other pests have arrived in the past 10 to 20 years that were not controlled and have become widespread nuisances, he said.

Spurweed, another prickly plant first reported here in the 1980s, grows abundantly now. Alligator weed, reported in the late 1980s, can take over sections of cropland.

Japanese stilt grass, unheard of here 10 years ago, has taken over a three-acre patch in woods at the Coast Guard base and has a foothold in other places. The weed can choke off desirable grass and landscaping plants.

Scottish thistle and bull thistle, both first reported in the past 10 years, are thriving nuisances. Asiatic hawksbeard, first reported in 2003, sprouts puffy seeds much like dandelions that can aggravate asthma. It grows throughout the area.

"Complacency just spreads pests," Campbell said from his office. "Take action now or ignore them at your peril."

Among recommendations to control sandspur is to mow closely with a grass catcher. Sandspur can be treated with pesticides without harming the surrounding grass, Campbell said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com