UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- While birds and retirees head south to escape the harsh, cold winters of the Northeast, the tropical soda apple weed is heading north to give our region a try, says Dwight Lingenfelter, assistant extension agronomist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

The weed has plagued pastures and unused land in the southeastern United States, particularly Florida, for some time and recently has spread to the Northeast. Last year, Doug Messersmith of the West Branch chapter of the Pennsylvania Crop Management Association discovered a field sample of the weed--a large, imposing plant that grows three to six feet tall.

A member of the nightshade family, tropical soda apple has broad hairy leaves and a prominent white mid-rib and veins through the stem. The weed somewhat resembles horse nettle in its early stages, but the mature plant is quite distinct, Lingenfelter says.

"It is important to identify new weeds because they can spread and become a problem if they aren't identified immediately," Lingenfelter says. "So far, there's no evidence that tropical soda apple has spread." Quick identification also is important because emergence of a new weed can affect a farmer's pest control strategies, Lingenfelter adds.

Tropical soda apple seeds have been planted for study at the Agronomy Research Farm at Penn State's Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, Rock Springs, Pa. Growth is being monitored to help determine if the weed can survive Northeast winters. Lingenfelter says that there is not enough field data yet to determine how well the weed has adapted to this region, but laboratory growth tests conducted in Florida indicate that the weed may be able to handle winter conditions.

How did tropical soda apple find its way to Pennsylvania? "Weed seeds can be transported by the interstate trucking industry and by imported livestock that may carry foreign seeds in their feces or coats," Lingenfelter says. "Weather-related incidents, such as the massive flooding in the last five years, also can cause weed travel and propogation."

New weed discoveries occur approximately once every five to ten years, but like the initial translocation, it is greatly dependent on environmental factors, Lingenfelter says. "In some cases, you find that a species has been here for a while but just isn't recognized until something happens that makes it widespread."

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Dwight Lingenfelter at 814-865-2242 or Deepika Reddy dcr122@psu.edu 814-863-2703 814-865-1068 fax