Hexazinone is a non-selective broad spectrum herbicide

Herbicide

Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...

 of the triazine

Triazine

A triazine is one of three organic chemicals, isomeric with each other, whose molecular formula is 333 and whose empirical formula is CHN.- Structure :...

 class. It is manufactured by DuPont

DuPont

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...

 and sold under the trade name Velpar. It is used to control grasses and broadleaf and woody plants. Approximately 33% is used on alfalfa, 31% in forestry, 29% in industrial areas, 4% on rangeland and pastures, and < 2% on sugarcane.

In 1989, hexazinone was deliberately used in an act of vandalism to poison the Treaty Oak

Treaty Oak (Austin, Texas)

The Treaty Oak, a once-majestic Southern live oak in Austin, Texas, is the last surviving member of the Council Oaks, a grove of 14 trees that served as a sacred meeting place for Comanche and Tonkawa Tribes. Forestry experts estimate the Treaty Oak to be about 500 years old and, before its...

in Austin, Texas.

Hexazinone is a known and pervasive groundwater contaminant, due to its high water solubility.

External links

• DuPont webpage on Velpar