1.   Before heading for the mountains of West Virginia, let me use a recent story of the binding power of a noxious weed to draw an offbeat moral.

2.   A small patch of the noxious weed occupies the vitrine like a piece of a Brooklyn vacant lot, along with detritus and tiny bugs.

3.   Genetically engineered crops, which entered commercial production in the United States last year, can pass their traits to noxious weeds with stunning speed, researchers reported Wednesday.

4.   If noxious weeds are left uncontrolled, they create a chain reaction of ecological and economical disasters.

5.   Multiflora rose is now classified as a noxious weed in several states.

6.   Once the carp ate the noxious weeds, experts said, they just kept eating and eating.

7.   Several federal agencies are using the technology to find noxious weeds on federal land.

8.   Shaw has long advocated the use of federal money for the weevil research project, and he helped place melaleuca on the federal list of noxious weeds.

9.   So a noxious weed problem that has been developing for more than two years may linger for a few more.

10.   Some landowners say that public access leads to litter, cattle killed by hunters and noxious weeds that grow from seeds that fall from tires.