Dollar Weed and St. Augustine Grass in Sarasota

0

Posted by admin | Posted in sarasota weed control | Posted on 29-03-2010

Dollarweed (Hydrocotyle spp.), also known as pennywort, is a warm-season perennial weed. It gets the common name, dollarweed, from its silver- dollar-shaped leaves. The leaves of dollarweed are round, bright green, fleshy and look like miniature lily pads measuring 1-2” in diameter with a scalloped edge. It has a low-growing habit that spreads by seeds, rhizomes and tubers.

Dollarweed is often confused with dichondra. One way to distinguish the two is by looking at the placement of the leaf stem. Dollarweed has a stem located in the center of the leaf while dichondra’s stem is located at the edge (see image below).

Dollarweed
Dollarweed leaf on left and dichondra leaf on right.
Bert McCarty, Clemson University

Before starting a weed control program homeowners should realize that complete eradication of dollarweed (or any weed) from the landscape is not practical. A more practical approach is to control (not eradicate) the weed by limiting the infestation to a tolerable level.