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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
Edible
- 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
Shelter 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 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.citation needed 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.citation needed
- 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
See also
