Invasive Plants
Reprinted from "Keystone Wild Notes", Spring 1996,
published by the Wild Resource Conservation Fund
Non-native, invasive plants are a growing problem in Pennsylvania. When
these plants were first introduced years ago, no one knew how rapidly they
wouold grow and displace native plants. This not only reduces the state's
plant biological diversity, but it also harms the animals that depend on
a variety of native plants to suvive. Experts urge that gardeners avoid
planting the following plants, and if they are already present, efforts
should be made to remove them. If there are questions about identification
or the best way to remove these plants, consult a local gardening expert.
Trees: Norway and sycamore maples, tree-of-heaven, Russian
and autumn olives, white mulberry, empress tree, sweet cherry, white cottonwood.
Shrubs: Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, Amur and Marrow's
honeysuckle, winged euonymus, privet, Japanese spirea.
Vines: Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese wisteria, Oriental
bittersweet, porcelain berry, climbing euonymus, English ivy, mile-a-minute,
kudzu, perwinkle.
Herbaceous Plants: purple loosestrife, Japanese knotwed,
stilt and Johnson grasses, five leaf akebia, garlic mustard, giant and
common reeds, Asiatic sound sedge, spotted knapweed, Canada and bull thistles,
crown vetch, Chinese yam, Chinese lespedeza, eulalia, aneilimia, beafsteak
plant.