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Vermont Invasives

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Terrestrial Plants

Knotweed, Giant

Fallopia sachalinensis

  • Read more about Knotweed, Giant
  • Giant knotweed: plants forms dense stands.
  • Giant knotweed: alternate, simple, dark green. Leaves are 6-14 inches long and have a heart-shaped base coming narrow to a point.
  • Giant knotweed: numerous small, greenish-white flowers appear in the leaf axils of the upper stems.
  • Giant knotweed: plants can grow to over 12 feet tall.
  • Look-alike: invasive Japanese knotweed (left) looks like Giant knotweed (right), but has squared off leaf base, where Giant knotweed is more "heart-shaped".

Mile-a-minute vine

Persicaria perfoliata

  • Read more about Mile-a-minute vine
  • Mile-a-minute vine: alternate leaves are triangular, light green, 1-3 in. wide and barbed on the undersurface.
  • Mile-a-minute vine: leaf and stem.
  • Mile-a-minute vine: infestation.
  • Mile-a-minute vine: small, white, inconspicuous flowers.
  • Mile-a-minute vine: alternate leaves are triangular, light green.
  • Mile-a-minute vine: flowers inside cup-like leaf bracts.
  • Mile-a-minutevine:  fruiting spike, ocreae, and barbs.
  • Look-alike: hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium) has triangular leaves with pointed tips and angular, heart‐shaped base.
  • Look-alike: hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium) has triangular leaves with pointed tips and angular, heart‐shaped base.

Reed canary grass

Phalaris arundinacea

  • Read more about Reed canary grass
  • Reed canary grass: infestation.
  • Reed canary grass: inflorescence color changes from green to purplish to tan as the seeds mature.
  • Reed canary grass: ligule is transparent (where blade and sheath come together).
  • Reed canary grass: reddish rhizomes near the soil surface.
  • Reed canary grass: inflorescence color changes from green to purplish to tan as the seeds mature.
  • Look-alike: native bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) also has a transparent-white ligule, but is less coarse textured than RCG, has smaller seed with fine hairs used for wind dispersal, can have dark colored joints, and the rhizomes near the soil surface are not reddish colored.

Butterbur Sweet-coltsfoot

Petasites hybridus

  • Read more about Butterbur Sweet-coltsfoot
  • Butterbur sweet-coltsfoot: large heart-shaped leaves and seeds are attached to plumes of fine white bristles.
  • Butterbur sweet-coltsfoot: pinkish red stalks emerge and blooms occur before full leaf out in the spring.
  • Look-alike: common burdock (Arctium minus).
  • Look-alike: wild ginger (Asarum canadense).

Princess Tree

Paulownia tomentosa

  • Read more about Princess Tree
  • Princess tree: large flowers (2 in. long) are fragrant and light violet-pink, appearing in showy upright clusters (8-12 inches in length). They have tubular corollas, ending in 5 unequal lobes.
  • Princess tree: bark is gray-brown and rough, often developing lighter-colored shallow vertical fissures.
  • Princess tree: form.
  • Princess tree: fruits (1-2 in. long, 1-1.5 in. wide) are egg-shaped capsules, divided into 4 inner compartments that contain the seeds. Fruits are light green in the summer, becoming dark brown in the winter, and persist in clusters on the tree until the following spring.
  • Princess tree: flowers.
  • Look-alike: northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), flower.
  • Look-alike: northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), seed pods.

Wall-lettuce

Mycelis muralis

  • Read more about Wall-lettuce
  • Wall Lettuce: basal and lower stem leaves are 2.5-7 in. long, 1-3 in. wide, glabrous and deeply lobed, with broad, terminal segments.
  • Wall Lettuce: flower head is comprised of 5 yellow, strap-shaped ray florets.
  • Wall Lettuce: infestation.
  • Look-alike: orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum), non-native, has orange-red ray flowers.
  • Look-alike: perennial sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis) has loose branching clusters of bright yellow, dandelion-like flowers.

Loosestrife, Garden

Lysimachia vulgaris

  • Read more about Loosestrife, Garden
  • Golden loosestrife: flowers have five yellow petals, blooms primarily at the top of the stems.
  • Golden Loosestrife: infestation.
  • Look-alike: spotted loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata), non-native, primarily blooms along the stem in the leaf axils.

Honeysuckle, Dwarf shrub

Lonicera xylosteum

  • Read more about Honeysuckle, Dwarf shrub
  • Dwarf shrub honeysuckle: white flowers develop in pairs in the axils of the leaves.
  • Dwarf shrub honeysuckle: fruit, dark red berries.
  • Dwarf shrub honeysuckle: infestation.
  • Look-alike: western white honeysuckle (Lonicera albiflora).

Border privet

Ligustrum obtusifolium

  • Read more about Border privet
  • Border privet: leaves are simple, opposite and has small, white flowers with an unpleasant scent.
  • Border privet: leaves are simple, opposite and has small, white flowerswith an unpleasant scentwith an unpleasant scent with an unpleasant scent.
  • Border privet: tall shrub, with multiple stems, leafy branches.
  • Border privet: tall shrub, with multiple stems, leafy branches.
  • Look-alike: northern spicebush has alternately arranged leaves and a distinct smell when the leaves are crushed.

Himalayan balsam

Impatiens glandulifera

  • Read more about Himalayan balsam
  • Himalayan balsam: stems are slightly purple; plant can grow 3-10 feet tall.
  • Himalayan balsam: infestation.
  • Himalayan balsam: flowers look like other "touch-me-not" flowers, but are pink-purple.
  • Himalayan balsam: leaf arrangement is opposite to whorled. Leaves are long, toothed, with a tapered point.
  • Look-alike: jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), flowers are orange. This plant is native.
  • Look-alike: jewelweed (Impatiens pallida), flowers are yellow. This plant is native.

Pagination

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Site by Tamarack Media Cooperative. Cover image by Brian Leedy.