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Vermont Invasives

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Forest

Amur maple

Acer ginnala

  • Read more about Amur maple
  • 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.

Honeysuckles, Shrub

Lonicera sp.

  • Read more about Honeysuckles, Shrub
  • Morrow’s honeysuckle: hairy underside of leaf, white flowers, leaves egg shape with slight taper at tip.
  • Amur honeysuckle: hairy leaf that is egg shaped with a long taper at tip, white flowers that yellow with time
  • Shrub Honeysuckle: twinned berries, that are generally red to yellow in color
  • Tatarian honeysuckle: flowers are shades of pink-red and asymmetrical, leaves are not hairy, leaves are egg shaped with rounded base
  • Bell Honeysuckle: variable characteristics, but usually has pink flowers.
  • Shrub Honeysuckle: hollow, brown pith
  • Look-alike: American honeysuckle has yellow tubular flowers, leaves can be hairy, and has a solid, white pith. This plant is native.

Norway Maple

Acer platanoides

  • Read more about Norway Maple
  • Norway maple: palmately lobed leaves are opposite and have 5 to 7 sharply acuminate lobes.
  • Norway maple: twig, leaves are opposite.
  • Norway maple: bark of the tree is grayish and regularly and shallowly grooved.
  • Norway maple: fall foliage.
  • Norway maple: fruit (samaras) are green when young and turn yellow, then brown, with age. The samara wings are divergent, reaching nearly 180 degree angle to each other and are dispersed by wind.
  • Norway maple: tree form.
  • Look-alike: sugar maple leaves have five lobes. The leaf petiole does not produce a white sap when broken.

Barberry, Japanese

Berberis thunbergii

  • Read more about Barberry, Japanese
  • Japanese barberry: infestation.
  • Japanese barberry: infestation in fall/winter.
  • Japanese barberry: inner bark of canes and roots can be bright yellow.
  • Japanese barberry: flowers are droopy, in small clusters of 2-5, pale yellow. Individual thorns occur along the canes.
  • Look-alike: common barberry, has three pronged spines, oval leaves with toothed edges, and flowers appear in droopy clusters

Goutweed or Bishop's Weed

Aegopodium podagraria

  • Read more about Goutweed or Bishop's Weed
  • Goutweed: white flowers are arranged in umbels that are 2.25-4.75 in. in diameter. Each umbel is borne on a long peduncle.
  • Goutweed: leaves are compound and toothed, and arrangement is alternate. This variegated form has bluish-green leaves with creamy white edges.
  • Goutweed: infestation.
  • Look-alike: Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) has yellow flowers and a smaller stature. This is a native plant.

Buckthorn, Glossy

Frangula alnus

  • Read more about Buckthorn, Glossy
  • Glossy buckthorn: dark green leaves are shiny, alternate (sometime opposite) and simple with prominent venation.
  • Glossy buckthorn: fleshy fruit ripens from red to a dark purple or black color.
  • Glossy buckthorn: bark is gray to brown with white lenticels.
  • Glossy Buckthorn leaves (left) vs. Common Buckthorn leaves (right)
  • Look-alike: common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) has droopy clusters of flowers and fruit, and leaf veins do not run parallel towards the tip like in common buckthorn

Pagination

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