Re: Weed ID and elimination - Leavenworth County Extension

[Mark Mayfield]

Hi Tina,

The plant is nodding spurge (Euphorbia nutans), which is a common native C4 summer annual that occurs through much of Kansas. As with any annual, open disturbed conditions tend to favor this plant but it is doing especially well in this relatively wet summer we've had. 

You ask for a way to "eliminate" nodding spurge in pasture, but control is a more reasonable goal. Applying any kind of herbicide at this part of the life cycle in hopes of control is probably a losing strategy since the plant is already producing seed and herbicides won't stop that at this point. Within the pasture, you will have some annual release with grazing every year and there's not much you can do about that. For any kind of pasture, using cultural practices to allow the pasture to "recover" from grazing during the peak of the pastures' growing season may be the best option to discourage release of summer annuals. I like the brochure linked below for practical approaches to controlling nodding spurge in pasture and hay fields.

https://utbeef.tennessee.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/127/2020/11/D52.pdf

Mark H. Mayfield
Division of Biology
1717 Claflin Rd. 
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-4900
785-532-2795 (voice)

Office: 304 Bushnell Hall

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From: Tina Packard <tpac...@ksu.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 3, 2025 10:58
To: Mark Mayfield <mark...@ksu.edu>
Subject: Weed ID and elimination - Leavenworth County Extension

 

Good morning:

Would you be able to identify this and give any information on how to eliminate it?  Our client has it thick in her pasture.  Thank you.

Regards,

Tina Packard, B.B.A.
Program Assistant/Office Professional
K-State Extension - Leavenworth County

Kansas State University
711 Marshall Street, Suite 101; Leavenworth KS 66048

Office:  913-364-5700; Direct:  913-364-5222
www.leavenworth.k-state.edu