Carolus Linnaeus described common groundsel, Senecio vulgaris, in his Species Plantarum, published in 1753 (2). The generic name is derived from the Latin senex meaning old or old man, the pappus resembling a white beard (4). Vulgaris is from the Latin vulgari meaning common, usual, or ordinary (7, 18).

Bioherbicides are biological control agents applied in similar ways to chemical herbicides to control weeds. The active ingredient in a bioherbicide is a living microorganism and it is applied in inundative doses of propagules. Most commonly the microorganism used is a fungus and its propagules are spores or fragments of mycelium; in this case the bioherbicide is also referred to as a mycoherbicide.

Commercial bioherbicides first appeared on the market in the USA in the early 1980s with the release of the product DeVine® in 1981 and in the next year, the release of the product Collego®. In spite of considerable public research effort and many promising candidate organisms, only one other bioherbicide product, BioMal®, has been registered (in Canada) since then. Furthermore none of these products are currently commercially available for a variety of reasons that will be discussed below.

The word poison entered the English language in 1387 as ‘poysoun”, and in Memoirs of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, v. 1, 1785, the word poison-ivy was used for the first time: “Poison ivy … produces the same kind of inflammation and eruptions … as poison wood tree”.

The first known reference to poison-ivy, Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Ktze., dates from the 7th century in China and the 10th century in Japan. Since Toxicodendron species do not grow in Europe, the plants remained unknown to Western civilization until explorers visited the New World seven centuries later. Capt. John Smith (1579–1631) wrote the first description of poison-ivy and originated its common name; he noted a similarity in the climbing habit of North American poison-ivy to English ivy (Hedera helix L.).