Last edited 2019
By Hubert Ling
As explained in the movie "Jurassic Park" contained within the coils of DNA is one of the mightiest powers on earth. Coded with a simple alphabet of A, T, G, and C is the power to kill billions of organisms, change the gas concentration of the atmosphere, and yes even destroy the whole earth with a Nuclear Winter.
By carelessly shifting around organisms, with their awesome genetic potential, we have caused major ecological disasters. Gone is the most important tree in the Northeast, the American Chestnut, our premier landscaping tree, the American Elm, and gone are huge tracts of productive fresh water marsh. Now these marshes frequently contain extensive acreage with monocultures (only one species present) of purple loosestrife or lesser celandine.
Cornell ecologist David Pimentel has estimated that alien species annually cause $138 billion dollars of damage to our US economy; an estimated 50,000 alien species of insects, plants and other pests now crowd our shores. In 2011 alone, the US Department of the Interior will spend $100 million to attempt to alleviate some of the harmful effects of invasives but that amount has done little to control the problem.
The basic problem is that all organisms have been programmed with a reproductive capacity that can easily outstrip all available resources. This humungous genetic potential is generally held in check by competition with dozens if not hundreds of other organisms, which also have the similar genetic potentials. With so much competition, no one organism takes it all; generally each organism takes only a small share of the total resources of land, water, minerals, light etc.
In addition to direct or indirect competition for resources, disease agents control population growth of any one species. If any one organism grows very well, very large populations develop of that one species. These large populations are very susceptible to attack by disease agents, which include fungi, viruses, and bacteria. Disease agents spread rapidly when their hosts grow close together.
Thus, in any community a dynamic balance is maintained, where populations often ebb and surge but monocultures are rare and populations whose numbers have dwindled are under less stress and eventually recover. Native plants in any given area have adapted to all the other organisms in a given area and genetically diverse ecosystems are generally maintained.
A different scenario takes place when an alien species is transported to a new area. Although direct competition with similar species is still a problem, the new kid in the block may have no natural pests and diseases. Thus, large stands of monocultures can occur. It is generally accepted that one plant species will support 10 species of animals. If one species takes over 99% of a given habitat dozens if not hundreds of species are lost from that area and some populations are stressed enough that extinction is possible.
Humans are responsible for almost all of the invasive plant and animal problems. Many of our problem invasives were (and often still are) planted as landscape plants in New Jersey. These include: Norway Maple, Japanese Barberry, Asian Bittersweet, English Ivy, Mimosa, Wisteria, Japanese Honeysuckle, Bugleweed, Bamboo, Day Lily, Purple Loosestrife, Tansy, and Dame's Rocket.
Only a relatively few commercially important plants such as Teasel, which was used in colonial days to raise the knap on woolen garments and spearmint, show much of a tendency to persist and multiply in the wild. We should probably include in this short list the important pasture clovers: White Sweet, White, and Red as plants which have become so common most people would think that they have been here forever.
Other plants have escaped local and federal projects: Multiflora Rose (previously used as crash barriers along highways, Crown Vetch (still used to stabilize steep hillsides, and Russian and Autumn Olive (used for wildlife habitat support).
We will probably never know how most of the alien plants arrived here. Many may have arrived as contaminating weed seeds along with seed stocks. It is very probable that the following list of plants arrived by that route: Common Mullein, Moth Mullein, Buttercups, Spotted Knapweed, Ox-eye Daisy, Queen Ann's Lace etc.
This list was first issued in 2003. Since that time the list has doubled! If immediate vigorous action is not taken by almost everyone we will lose the war against invasive plants.
What can you do to help? Plant only native plants! How would you feel if you started a several billion-dollar problem such as Purple Loosestrife? Definitely avoid plants in category 1 - High Risk and category 2 - Moderate Risk and support legislation to restrict these plants. Join the Native Plant society or other conservation groups: New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team - https://www.fohvos.info/invasive-species-strike-team/, New Jersey Department of Enviroment Protection - Invasive Species Council - https://www.nj.gov/dep/njisc/, National Invasive Species Council - https://www.doi.gov/invasivespecies/, Smithsonian- https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/teaching-resources/life-science/invasive-species, Nature Conservancy - https://www.nature.org/en-us/.
Listed below are problem invasive plants for NJ. These lists are not complete and we would like additions, modifications and suggestions.
Type | Scientific name | Common name | Photos |
---|---|---|---|
Herbaceous Dicots | Achillea millefolium | Yarrow | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ajuga reptans | Common Bugleweed | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Alliaria officinalis | Garlic Mustard | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Artemisia vulgaris | Mugwort | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Cardamine impatiens | Narrowleaf Bittercress | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Centaurea maculosa | Spotted Knapweed | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Cichorium intybus | Chickory | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Cirsium arvense | Canada Thistle | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Coronilla varia | Crown Vetch | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Cynanchum nigrum | Black Swallow-wort | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Cynanchum rossicum | Pale Swallow-wort | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Daucus carota | Wild Carrot | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Fallopia sachalinensis | Giant Knotweed | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ficaria verna | Lesser Celandine | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Glechoma hederacea | Gill-Over-The-Ground | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Hesperis matronalis | Dame's Rocket | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Lespedeza cuneata | Sericea Lespedeza | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Lythrum salicaria | Purple Loosestrife | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Malva moschata | Musk Mallow | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Meliotus alba | White Sweet Clover | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Persicaria perfoliata | Mile-A-Minute | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Plantago lanceolata | English Plantain | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Plantago major | Common Plantain | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Polygonium cuspidatam | Japanese Knotweed | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ranunculus ficaria | Lesser Celandine | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Rumex crispus | Curly Dock | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Taraxacum officinale | Common Dandelion | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Trifolium pratense | Red Clover | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Trifolium repens | White Clover | |
Aquatic Dicots | Cabomba caroliniana | Carolina Fanwort | |
Aquatic Dicots | Eichhornia crassipes | Common Water Hyacinth | |
Aquatic Dicots | Hydrilla verticillata | Hydrilla | |
Aquatic Dicots | Ludwigia peploides | Creeping Waterprimrose | |
Aquatic Dicots | Myosoton aquaticum | Giant Chickweed | |
Aquatic Dicots | Myriophyllum aquaticum | Parrotfeather | |
Aquatic Dicots | Myriophyllum spicatum | Eurasian Water Milfoil | |
Aquatic Dicots | Potamogeton crispus | Curly Pondweed | |
Aquatic Dicots | Trapa natans | European Water Chestnut | |
Monocots | Allium vineale | Field Garlic | |
Monocots | All bamboo except native cane | Any Hardy Bamboo | |
Monocots | Carex kobomugi | Japanese Sedge | |
Monocots | Carex macrocephala | Largehead Sedge | |
Monocots | Cynodon dactylon | Bermuda Grass | |
Monocots | Dactylis glomerata | Orchard Grass | |
Monocots | Dendrocalamus, etc. | Bamboo | |
Monocots | Digitaria sanguinalis | Crab Grass | |
Monocots | Echinochloa crusgalli | Barnyard Grass | |
Monocots | Eragrostis curvula | Weeping Lovegrass | |
Monocots | Hemercallus fulva | Day Lily | |
Monocots | Iris pseudacorus | Yellow Iris | |
Monocots | Microstegium vimineum | Japanese Stilt Grass | |
Monocots | Miscanthus sinensis | Chinese Silvergrass | |
Monocots | Phalaris canariensis | Canarygrass | |
Monocots | Phragmites australis | Common Reed | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Acer platanoides | Norway Maple | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Acer pseudoplatanus | Sycamore Maple | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Akebia quinata | Chocolate Vine | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Alianthus altissima | Tree Of Heaven | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Alnus glutinosa | European Black Alder | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Ampelopsis brevipedeenculata | Porcelainberry | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Aralia elata | Japanese Angelica Tree | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Berberis Thunbergii | Japanese Barberry | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Celastrus orbiculatus | Asian Bittersweet | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Clematis flammula | Fragrant Clematis | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Clematis�terniflora | Sweet Autumn Clematis | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Cornus kousa | Kousa Dogwood | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Elaeagnus angustifolia | Russian Olive | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Elaeagnus umbellata | Autumn Olive | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Eleutherococcus sieboldianus | Five-Leaf Aralia | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Euonymus alatus | Winged Burning | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Frangula alnus | Glossy Buckthorn | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Hedera helix | English Ivy | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Ligustrum obtusifolium | Border Privet | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Ligustrum vulgare | European Privet | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Lonicera japonica | Japanese Honeysuckle | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Lonicera maackii | Amur Honeysuckle | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Lonicera morrowii | Fly Honeysuckle | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Lonicera tatarica | Tatarian Honeysuckle | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Malus toringo | Japanese Crabapple | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Pueraria montana | Kudzu | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Photinia villosa | Oriental Photinia | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Prunus subhirtella var. pendula | Weeping Higan Cherry | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rhamnus cathartica | European Buckthorn | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rhamnus frangula | Alder Buckthorn | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rhodotypos scandens | Jetbead Rhsc | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rosa multiflora | Multiflora Rose | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rosa rugosa | Seaside Rose | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Rubus phoenicolasius | Wine Raspberry | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Ulmus procera | English Elm | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Viburnum dilatatum | Linden Viburnum | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Viburnum plicatum | Japanese Snowball | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Viburnum setigerum | Tea Viburnum | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Viburnum sieboldii | Siebold'S Arrowwood | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Zelkova serrata | Japanese Zelkova |
type | scientific name | common name | Photos |
---|---|---|---|
Herbaceous Dicots | Chelidonium majus | Celandine | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Chrysanthemum leucanthemum | Ox-Eye Daisy | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Dianthus armeria | Depford Pink | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Galinsoga ciliata | Galinsoga | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Lamium purpureum | Purple Dead Nettle | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Linaria vulgaris | Butter-And-Eggs | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Lysimachia nummularia | Moneywort | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Matricaria matricariodes | Pineapple Weed | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Mentha spicata | Spearmint | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Polygonum persicaria | Lady's-Thumb | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Portulaca oleracea | Purslane | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ranunculus acris | Common Buttercup | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ranunculus bulbosus | Bulbous Buttercup | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Ranunculus repens | Creeping Buttercup | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Rumex acetosella | Sheep's Sorrel | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Rumex obtusifolius | Broad Dock | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Tanacetum vulgare | Tansy | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Verbascum blattaria | Moth Mullein | |
Herbaceous Dicots | Verbascum thapsus | Common Mullein | |
Monocots | Commelina communis | Day Flower | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Albizia julibrissin | Mimosa | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Buddleja davidii | Butterfly Bush | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Prunus avium | Crab Cherry | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Wisteria floribunda | Wisteria | |
Vines & Woody Dicots | Wisteria frutescens | Wisteria |