Invasive Plants of Tanque Verde Valley

Invasives cannot be completely controlled but can be significantly reduced with human intervention. The biggest variable is landowner action.

Report an area of invasive species that needs attention. We will raise awareness and request volunteer assistance for any areas that have public access.

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Attending one event will equip you with the training to manage invasive plants on your own property. Think of it as a free course while helping your community.
Pull events run throughout the year. Sign up to be on our volunteer contact list for future pull events.

Get help from experts on how to identify and eradicate invasive plants on your property.

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Fountain Grass seed heads filling a rocky wash at sunset, with saguaros on the skyline. — Fountain Grass in Agua Caliente Wash.Photograph courtesy of Rosanna Marmont

A dense clump of buffelgrass growing among rocks and bare ground. — Buffelgrass in riparian area.Photograph courtesy of Brian Oveson

A hillside carpeted in dry buffelgrass, with saguaro desert and houses in the valley beyond. — Buffelgrass infested landscape void of diversity.Photograph courtesy of Brian Oveson

Invasive Plants

Grow more vigorously than slow growing natives, allowing them to:
- Quickly colonize disturbed areas with compromised soils before native plants get a chance.
- Colonize areas between native plants in fully intact desert areas. Within a few years, invasive plants (such as Buffelgrass and Fountain Grass) can form a dense carpet that almost completely crowds out natives.
Are fire adapted, meaning they have evolved to burn and resprout after a fire, while native Sonoran vegetation has not. Invasive plants can turn a fire-resistant desert ecosystem into a non-native, fire-prone landscape.

Removing native plants invites invasive plants to move in. Your best defense against invasive plants is to maintain native Sonoran vegetation and selectively weed invasive plants.

The grass-fire cycle. Sonoran Desertscrub is not fire-adapted, so native plants do not recover from wildfire. Saguaro, foothill palo verde, and ironwood are killed outright. Fire adapted invasive grasses resprout from the root crown, so they return in weeks whereas the natives don’t return at all. Each fire converts desert to grassland more permanently.

Invasive Plants of Tanque Verde Valley

Class B — Known to occur in Arizona but of limited distribution; may be a high priority for quarantine, control or mitigation where a significant threat to a crop, commodity or habitat is known to exist. Arizona State Noxious Weed List (A.A.C. R3-4-245).

African Sumac — Searsia lanceaFormerly Rhus lancea
Natal Grass — Melinis repensSyn. Rhynchelytrum repens
Saharan Mustard — Brassica tournefortii
Stinknet / Globe Chamomile — Oncosiphon piluliferSyn. O. piluliferum

Class C — Widespread in Arizona, but may be recommended for active control based on risk assessment. Arizona State Noxious Weed List (A.A.C. R3-4-245).

Buffelgrass — Cenchrus ciliarisSyn. Pennisetum ciliare
Fountain Grass — Cenchrus setaceusSyn. Pennisetum setaceum
Lehmann Lovegrass — Eragrostis lehmanniana
Red Brome — Bromus rubens
Saltcedar / Tamarisk — Tamarix spp.

Not on the state noxious weed list — No state regulatory designation, but present in the valley and of local management concern.

Bermuda Grass — Cynodon dactylon
London Rocket — Sisymbrium irio
Mediterranean Grass / Split Grass — Schismus barbatus, S. arabicus
Russian Thistle / Tumbleweed — Salsola tragusSyn. S. kali. Not on the noxious weed list, though S. kali var. tenuifolia is a restricted noxious weed seed under the separate Arizona seed law (A.A.C. R3-4-403)
Soft Feather Pappusgrass — Enneapogon cenchroides

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