Best Bets: Plants Tried and True Native Plants for Particular Uses To Replace Invasive Plants in the Mid-Atlantic INVASIVE PLANT: Creeping Liriope (Liriope spicata)
Liriope spicata is native to China and Vietnam and was introduced to the United States as an ornamental. One of the most frequently planted ground covers, this aggressively spreading perennial has appeared in scattered infestations throughout the Southeast and has been identified as an emerging threat to natural areas in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia both L. spicata and L. muscari are considered invasive.
Problems Creeping Liriope & Plantain-leaved Sedge
Aggressive spreader in gardens, crowding out native and cultivated plants
Infests abandoned home sites and woods adjacent to neighborhoods
Creates monocultures and degrades natural habitats, displacing native plants and reducing support for wildlife
Seeds spread by birds and mammals
Runners travel under cement, making it difficult to contain
Rhizomes spread through movement of soil
Tolerates air pollution and drought and can grow in either sun or shade
Difficult to eradicate
Desired Characteristics
Grass-like and/or evergreen ground cover
Native Alternatives
Carex flaccosperma (Meadow (Blue Wood) Sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania Sedge)
Carex plantaginea (Plantain-leaved Sedge)
Packera aurea (Golden Ragwort)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas Fern)
Salvia lyrata (Lyre-leaf Sage)
developed by Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, serving Arlington and Alexandria Images by Elaine Mills, Arlington, VA and U. S. National Arboretum
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