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Vermont Invasives

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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.

European Spindle-tree

Euonymus europaeus

  • Read more about European Spindle-tree
  • European spindle-tree: 4-lobed capsule, 1/2 inch across, pink to purple in color, splits open to reveal dark red seeds, ripens in fall.
  • European spindle-tree: flowers are inconspicuous (1/3 inch across), 4 greenish-white petals with purple anthers, appearing in late spring in multiple branched clusters.
  • European spindle-tree: infestation.
  • European spindle-tree: flowers are inconspicuous (1/3 inch across), 4 greenish-white petals with purple anthers, appearing in late spring in multiple branched clusters.
  • European spindle-tree: opposite, simple, elliptical, 2 1/2 to 4 inches long, finely serrated, long pointed, green above, paler and may be pubescent below.
  • Look-alike: winged burning bush (Euonymus alatus) also an invasive species.

Russian olive

Elaeagnus angustifolia

  • Read more about Russian olive
  • Russian olive: silvery scales cover both sides of its leaves.
  • Russian olive: fragrant flowers are 0.5-0.6 in. wide, silvery outside and yellow within. There are 1-3 flowers within the leaf axils.
  • Look-alike: autumn olive, (also an invasive species) alternate long oval leaves, with silvery undersides, and slight wave to the edge.

False Indigo

Amorpha fruticosa

  • Read more about False Indigo
  • False indigo: flowers are slender spikes at the ends of the twigs.
  • False indigo: flowers are slender spikes at the ends of the twigs.
  • False indigo: infestation.
  • False indigo: alternate, pinnately compound leaves up to 10 inches long, 13 to 35 leaflets per leaf.
  • Look-alike: bristly locust (Robinia hispida), looks similar to false indigo when they are young

Maple, Amur

Acer ginnala

  • Read more about Maple, Amur
  • Amur maple: leaf has three lobes, the center lobe is much more prominent than the other two lobes.
  • Amur maple: leaf has three lobes, the center lobe is much more prominent than the other two lobes.
  • Amur maple: leaf has three lobes, the center lobe is much more prominent than the other two lobes.
  • Amur maple: reddish fruit (samaras), which hang on the tree until late fall, have nearly parallel wings.
  • Amur maple: bark of the tree is smooth and gray.
  • Look-alike: red maple

Common Barberry

Berberis vulgaris

  • Read more about Common Barberry

Tree-of-heaven

Ailanthus altissima

  • Read more about Tree-of-heaven
  • Tree-of-heaven: leaves are pinnately compound and 1-4 ft. in length with 10-41 leaflets.
  • Tree-of-heaven: fruit produced on female plants are tan to reddish, single winged and can be wind or water-dispersed.
  • Tree-of-heaven: infestation.
  • Tree-of-heaven: leaves have gland on underside of the leaf.
  • Look-alike: staghorn sumac (Rhus hirta) has toothed leaf edges, and lacks the tell-tale glands that Tree-of-heaven have on the underside of the leaf.

Honeysuckle, Vine

Lonicera japonica

  • Read more about Honeysuckle, Vine
  • Vine honeysuckle: whitish-pink flowers develop in the axils of the leaves. The flowers turn cream-yellow as they age.
  • Vine honeysuckle: infestation.
  • Vine honeysuckle: small shiny globular fruits turn from green to black as they ripen.
  • Look-alike: trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens).
  • Look-alike: twining honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica).

Swallowwort, Pale

Vincetoxicum rossicum

  • Read more about Swallowwort, Pale
  • Pale swallowwort: flowers are dark pink to deep red, 5-petaled, star-shaped and appear in clusters.
  • Pale swallowwort: flowers are dark pink to deep red, 5-petaled, star-shaped and appear in clusters.
  • Pale swallowwort: fruits are similar to milkweed pods. They are slender, 2-3 in. long and split to reveal small seeds with tufts of white hairs.
  • Pale swallowwort: infestation.
  • Pale swallowwort: fruits are similar to milkweed pods. They are slender, 2-3 in. long and split to reveal small seeds with tufts of white hairs.
  • Look-alike: black swallowwort (also an invasive species) has oval leaves and dark blue/purple flowers.

Pagination

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This website was supported by an Innovations and Collaborations Grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.

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