Want to know more about invasive plants and how you can help?
Check out this free resource from the National Park Service and the
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It’s called Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. You can download the publication or read it online.
Briefly, you’ll get info on 49 of the top invasive aquatic plants, herbs, shrubs, trees and vines, along with a list of native alternatives that you can use to replace the invaders on your property.
Invasive Plants of the Mid-Atlantic U.S.
(Covering Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia)
Aquatic Plants
Eurasian watermilfoil, Myriophyllum spicatum
Giant salvinia, Salvinia molesta
Hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata
Parrot feather watermilfoil, Myriophyllum aquaticum
Water chestnut, Trapa natans
Herbaceous Plants
Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata
Japanese knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum
Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum
Lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria
Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria
Bamboos, exotic, Bambusa, Phyllostachys and Pseudosassa
Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense
Chinese lespedeza, Lespedeza cuneata
Chinese silver grass, Miscanthus sinensis
Common daylily, Hemerocallis fulva
Common reed, Phragmites australis
Giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum
Giant reed, wild cane, Arundo donax
Marsh dewflower, Murdannia keisak
Spotted knapweed, Centaurea biebersteinii
Shrubs
Autumn olive, Elaeagnus umbellata
Bush honeysuckles, exotic, Lonicera
Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii
Multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora
Privets, Ligustrum spp.
Wineberry, Rubus phoenicolasius
Winged burning bush, Euonymus alata
Butterfly bush, Buddlejac spp.
Japanese spiraea, Japanese meadowsweet, Spiraea japonica
Jetbead, Rhodotypos scandens
Trees
Bradford pear, Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’
Norway maple, Acer platanoides
Princess tree, Paulownia tomentosa
Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima
Silk tree, mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin
Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera
Sawtooth oak, Quercus acutissima
White mulberry, Morus alba
Vines
English ivy, Hedera helix
Kudzu, Pueraria montana v. lobata
Mile-a-minute, Polygonum perfoliatum
Oriental bittersweet, Celastrus orbiculatus
Porcelainberry, Ampelopsis brevipedunculata
Wisterias, exotic, Wisteria sinensis, W. floribunda
Creeping euonymus, Euonymus fortunei
Five-leaved akebia, Akebia quinata
Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica
Louis’ swallowwort, Cynanchum louiseae
Periwinkle, Vinca minor
At first glance we have seven of these invaders on our property, so we’ll be looking into how we can best deal with each one.
What about your land? Are you harboring any alien invaders?