Invasive Plants or Trees

The Norway Maple is so conspicuous throughout the United States that it is often easy to forget that it is an introduced species that can adversely affect the environment.

Wavyleaf basketgrass was first identified in the United States in Baltimore County, MD in 1996. It is less well-known than other invasives, but it is spreading rapidly in Maryland and Virginia.

Back issues of the Branching Out newsletter can be found on this page.

In this issue: With warmer weather comes a reminder to stay vigilant about woodland threats, and a look at the importance of pollen. There's an assessment of ghost forests in the region, plus a roundup of news you might have missed. Read about the pawpaw in our "Native Trees of Maryland" feature and about glossy buckthorn in our "Invasives in Your Woodland" feature. And more!

Enjoy the warm weather, but continue to stay on the lookout for woodland threats.

Glossy Buckthorn is now found in 29 states and several Canadian provinces from Nova Scotia to Idaho and from Québec to Tennessee. Currently, it is reported in five Maryland counties, but given that it is observed as far west as Garrett Co. and as far east as Worcester Co., it may exist elsewhere.

In this issue: Check in on AI and its capacity to provide accurate and specific advice. Register for the spring session of our "The Woods in Your Backyard" course. Learn about a new national refuge in southern Maryland and about one couple's work on their natural areas. Read about Sugar Maple in our "Native Trees of Maryland" feature and about incised fumewort in our "Invasives in Your Woodland" feature. And more!

The term “Incised fumewort” may not be familiar to many readers of this column, as this plant is a relatively new arrival to North America. It was first identified in the US only in 2005. Since then, new populations have been identified in Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, and as far west as Tennessee and Illinois.

Paula Whyman ʼ87 and her husband bought 200 acres on a peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she undertook the daunting task of clearing invasive plants and encouraging native plant life on this long gone-to-seed cow pasture and orchard—an experiment she's written about in her new book, “Bad Naturalist: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop.”

Regular readers of this feature will note that the vast majority of species highlighted here are not native to North America. This issue, however, looks at a Osage-orange, a species that is both native to North America and that has been introduced to new environments in such numbers that it is considered invasive in many areas.