ITHACA, N.Y. ------ Gardeners tending even the most modest pea patches know it's a jungle out there when it comes to managing weeds. But a new two-volume CD-ROM set, developed and produced by a Cornell University weed scientist, provides comprehensive, user-friendly instruction whether you're weeding a backyard garden or landscaping a golf course. The innovative program, now available to the public, is humbly titled "Weed Identification, Biology and Management," and it's an encyclopedic tour de plantes of more than 100 Northeastern weed species.

"You don't have to be a botanist or a taxonomist to understand the program; it's practical and accessible to just about anyone," said Antonio DiTommaso, Cornell assistant professor of weed science in the university's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. "We're hoping this CD package helps people to learn more about these often strikingly beautiful plants, which at times interfere with our activities."

Easy to navigate, the CD-ROM program provides detailed, high-resolution photographs of the weed seeds, seedlings, juvenile plants and close-ups of flowering plants. Other special features include information on nomenclature, distribution, habitats, morphology (form and structure), life history, biology and management options for each weed species. Plants are arranged alphabetically by Latin name (genus and species); weeds from A to L are in Volume 1, while weeds from M to Z are in Volume 2. Weeds also are indexed by plant family, common name and by attributes, including flower color, seedling morphology and a vegetative key for common grass weeds. An illustrated glossary helps to explain technical terms, and a "Reference and Selected Readings" section provides additional sources of information.

For a preview of the CD-ROM, visit Cornell's Weed Ecology Web site at http://www.css.cornell.edu/WeedEco/ . For more information about the program, contact DiTommaso at (607) 254-4702 or by e-mail at ad97@cornell.edu .