
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 10, 1993                   TAG: 9310070067
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Patricia Held
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHENEVER THE RAGWEED COMES, THE SNEEZES ARE SURE TO FOLLOW

Ambrosia. The mere mention of the word brings to mind lovely thoughts. It is taken from the Greek word ambrotos and means immortal. In Greek and Roman mythology the word refers to the nectar that formed the food and drink of the gods. Ambrosia denotes anything exquisitely gratifying in either taste or scent.

On the other hand, Ambrosia refers to one of our most detested plants, ragweed! It is the Latin taxonomical name for this group of plants. But just how ragweed and Ambrosia became linked is not clear.

One thing that we do know for sure is that ragweed flourishes throughout Western Virginia. It is a native plant and grew in this country long before the first pioneers arrived on these shores. The early settlers actually encouraged ragweed's growth by tilling the soil to prepare the ground for agriculture. It seems that ragweed does its best in disturbed soil.

Ragweed usually does not grow in a stable and balanced society of plants. As a pioneer plant ragweed waits for some type of soil disturbance before it begins to take hold. Once it starts, look out! It quickly dominates the landscape.

We see ragweed in cultivated and fallow fields, along roadsides, on construction sites and in vacant city lots. As pioneer plant, it propagates in broken soil and occurs regularly with grain crops and will quickly take over freshly harvested fields.

Thankfully, ragweed is an annual plant. Generally in two to four years it is replaced by perennials. We often find goldenrods and asters in blossom in fallow fields where ragweed once flourished.

Common ragweed is known for its short and bushy growth with fern-like leaves and hairy stems. And we are all familiar with its greenish-yellow spiked flowerheads. It is these flowerheads that give the plant such a bad reputation.

It seems that insects find ragweed as unattractive as we do. Thus, the plant's only means of pollination is by the wind. This leads to a crescendo of sneezing come the autumn.

Within the growing season there are three periods of sneezing misery for the hay-fever sufferer. The first two coincide with the early spring tree blossoms and mid-summer grasses. Just when we think it's all over and it is safe to take a deep breath, we sneeze again - this time from the ragweed.

We may think that ragweed has no redeeming qualities. But as a pioneer plant, it grows in the open in disturbed areas where the threat of erosion is always prevalent. The plant has excellent soil-retention capabilities, and when it grows on agricultural lands, it can be plowed under as fertilizer.

Ragweed leaves are bitter. Only very hungry animals bother to eat them. But ragweed seeds are a rich source of food for many birds and mammals. They have a high level of oil, and because each plant produces an enormous amount of seeds that persist on the plant through the wintertime, ragweed serves as one of the most valuable of winter foods for wildlife. So, for wild animals, Ambrosia, is really a suitable name.

by CNB