List of beneficial weeds

This is a list of undomesticated or feral plants, considered weeds, yet having some positive effects or uses, often being ideal as companion plants in gardens.

Beneficial weeds can be classed in a number of categories.

Categories of Beneficial Weeds

Pest-repellant

* Crow garlic -- a wild allium which repels certain insect pests and is edible
* Cocklebur -- repels armyworms
* Goldenrod -- repels some bad insects and shelters several useful predatory species
* Milkweed -- repels wireworms
* Caper Spurge -- believed to repel moles
* Neem -- repels leaf eating insects

Edible

* Cornflower various colors; can be served as edible garnish to decorate salads.
* Painter's brush weed
* Chickweed -- used in salads and also as ground cover
* Burdock -- roots are edible
* Lambsquarters -- leaves and shoots, raw, also prevents erosion, also distracts leaf miners from nearby crops
* Shepherd's purse -- leaves are edible and often sauted or blanched

* Stinging nettle -- High nutritional value. Used like spinach.
* Purslane -- prepared raw for salads or sautéed
* Watercress -- can be eaten raw or cooked; is considered a weed in some cultures
* Dandelion -- flowers can be used to make wine; leaves are edible and good for digestion; roots sometimes used as coffee substitute

Habitat for beneficial insects

* Clover -- attracts predatory insects, also good for soil
* Solanum -- provides cover for predatory ground beetles which hunt aphids
* Pigweed / Amaranthus -- also shelters ground beetles, breaks up hard soil, allowing other plants to develop deeper roots
* Queen Anne's lace -- attracts predatory insects like lacewings, its seeds contain estrogen and are used in folk/herbal medicine as a contraceptive, and its root breaks up hard soil/deadpan.
* Wild blackberry -- attracts predatory insects, and produces berries
* Motherwort -- attracts bees
* Wild mustard -- protects predatory insects
* Joe-Pye weed -- habitat for pollinators and predatory insects
* Aster -- habitat predatory insects

helter plants

* Normal grass can be used as ground cover, especially in nitrogenous soils
* Purslane -- can be used to protect soil from erosion

Trap Crops

Trap crops draw potential pests away from the actual crop intended for cultivation

* Multiflora Rose -- distracts Japanese beetles from good crops (This is a non-native invasive species in North America - see [http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/romu.htm link ] )
* Nasturtium -- attracts caterpillars and aphids, so planting them alongside or around vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage will protect them, as the egg-laying insects will tend to prefer the nasturtium.
* Mustard -- attracts aphids, so planting around cabbages protects them. It also attracts ladybird beetles to multiply and spread from there.
* Cowpea -- attracts ladybird beetle, so planting around cotton fields protects them from sucking insects. It serve as source of food and niche.

Medicinal use

* Bashful mimosa -- various herbalist uses
* Rumex -- Dock, which commonly grows in association with nettle, is rumoured to cure or ease their sting. Crush a leaf before applying to affected area.

Other

* Cannabis -- clothes can be made out of hemp, as well as a form of paper both cheaper than and superior to wood-pulp paper. Fact|date=July 2008 The seeds can also be used in most of the same capacities as soybeans, both for food and as a source of vegetable oil and fuel alcohol. Plant matter can be smoked or eaten for its mind-altering effects. Seeds are high in Omega 3 and 6; a great source of fiber, potassium & protein. Fact|date=July 2008
* Dandelion -- Breaks up dense soil, helping vegetable roots go deeper. If picked while in season, leaves and flowers are edible as a salad component. Repels armyworms.
* Nightshade -- breaks up hardpan, allowing roots to grow deeper
* Wild Vetch -- the early cousin of the cover crop Hairy Vetch.

References

* Peterson, L.A. & Peterson, R.T. (1999). "A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America." Houghton-Mifflin.
* Duke, J.A., Foster, S., & Peterson, R.T. (1999)." A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America." Houghton-Mifflin.

* Gibbon, E. (1988). "Stalking the Wild Asparagus." Alan C. Hood & Company.
* Sharma, O.P., R.C. Lavekar, K.S. Murthy and S.N. Puri. (2000). "Habitat diversity and predatory insects in cotton IPM : A case study of Maharashtra cotton eco-system. Radcliffe’s IPM world textbook. http:// www.ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/ sharma.htm. Minnesota University, USA

ee also

*List of companion plants
*List of edible flowers
*List of repellent plants
*Beetle bank