Beware! For more information, visit the following: Thorny olive or silverthorn These non-natives are showing signs of becoming Elaeagnus pungens invasive or are already established invaders. Invasive Plants • Alabama Cooperative Extension System Invasive Plants Tolerant of a wide www.aces.edu/go/678 variety of habitats, • Alabama Invasive Plant Council thorny olive is spread by Invasive www.aces.edu/go/679 animal-dispersed seeds Non-native yams Five-leaf akebia English ivy and stem sprouts that • Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health Dioscorea spp. Akebia quinata Hedera helix aggressively climb into www.invasive.org Plants and over shrubs and • A Field Guide for the Identi cation trees. It is dif cult to of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests control once established. www.aces.edu/go/681 Exotic beauties can Native Plants have devastating results Japanese climbing fern Japanese honeysuckle Periwinkle • Alabama Plant Atlas Nandina or Heavenly bamboo Lygodium japonicum Lonicera japonica Vinca major and V. minor www. oraofalabama.org/ Nandina domestica • Alabama Smart Yards Promoted as a tough www.aces.edu/go/685 evergreen shrub with red berries, nandina • Bringing Nature Home has naturalized and www.aces.edu/go/684 invaded natural habitats Winter creeper Autumn olive Bush honeysuckle • Brooklyn Botanic Garden displacing native species Euonymus fortunei Elaeagnus umbellata Lonicera spp. www.aces.edu/go/683 and disrupting plant communities. Sterile, • Lady Bird Johnson Wild ower Center noninvasive cultivars www.wild ower.org/explore.php are available, but they • Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council don’t support insects at www.aces.edu/go/682 the bottom of the food chain. Multi ora rose Trifoliate orange Chinese parasoltree Rosa multi ora Poncirus trifoliata Firmiana simplex Chinese or lacebark elm Ulmus parvifolia

Adaptable to a wide variety of habitats and not susceptible to Dutch Paper mulberry Princesstree Tungoil tree elm disease, Chinese elm Broussonetia papyrifera Paulownia tomentosa Vernicia fordii has been widely planted as a street tree. However, proli c windblown seeds

develop into aggressive seedlings and invade without contributing as a Nancy Loewenstein, Extension Specialist, Forestry and Wildlife Science, and Danita Smith, food source. Tree-of-heaven Bamboos Chinese silvergrass former curator of the Davis Arboretum (Biological Sciences), both with Auburn University. Ailanthus altissima Phyllostachys spp. and Miscanthus sinensis Bambusa spp. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) Alabama Cooperative Extension System is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Everyone is welcome! New Jan 2017, FOR-2043 www.aces.edu FOR-2043 ome non-native plants introduced into our Chinese privet Ligustrum sinense Non-native wisterias Wisteria sinensis A Cautionary Tale S landscapes as ornamentals have escaped to & W. oribunda become invasive weeds with negative impacts to our This mostly evergreen shrub The natural hybrids of native plants and animals. Chinese tallowtree (Triadica sebifera), spreads by abundant seeds Chinese and Japanese also known as popcorn tree, is a classic example of a plant carried by birds and water. wisteria are more invasive introduced into the United States with good intentions, but with How do non-native invasive plants Proli c root sprouting adds than either individual very bad outcomes. Benjamin Franklin is often cited as having to its spread and dif culty species. Woody vines form harm the environment? introduced tallowtree in 1772. It was promoted by Franklin and of control. Privet has some dense infestations that are • Crowd out and displace native plants others for numerous purposes, including as an ornamental. value as deer browse dif cult to control. Blooms • Reduce natural regeneration of forests and and bird habitat, and the in the spring as the leaves other natural areas  owers do attract bees. emerge. Native wisteria • Do not support insects at the bottom of the food But the dense infestations (W. frutescens) blooms chain, harming the birds and animals that depend displace most native species during the summer after on the insects and reduce native bee leaves are developed. An ecosystem populations. • Change re, nutrient, and water cycles transformer, Chinese tallowtree has What characteristics suggest that Callery or ‘Bradford’ pear Pyrus calleryana Mimosa or silktree Albizia julibrissin tremendous negative impacts in wetlands, a plant may become invasive? The popular cultivar pastures, prairies, and forests. • Grows quickly and aggressively ‘Bradford’ was considered An old homesite favorite, • Produces a lot of seeds sterile, but with the mimosa is now commonly • Self sows easily introduction of new seen along roadsides, • Has seeds spread by birds, animals, wind, or water cultivars, seeds are now open areas, and disturbed produced in abundance. • Sprouts readily and proli cally when cut habitats. Abundant, long- A single Chinese Spreading rapidly, escaped • Responds favorably to disturbance lived seeds and proli c tallowtree can Callery pear trees are most • Tolerates harsh environments sprouting from cut stumps produce more than noticeable when blooming contribute to its spread. 100,000 seeds. Seeds in the spring. Naturalized are spread by birds Why is it important to include native plants often have thorns. plants in landscapes? and water. Tallowtree also sprouts • Native plants support the insect species that aggressively from cut provide food for birds (especially baby birds), Chinaberry tree Melia azedarach Leatherleaf Mahonia Mahonia bealei stumps and roots. other insects, and small mammals. • Native plants provide the foundation for a more Once a favorite around balanced and diverse habitat. Chinese tallowtree is old homesites, Chinaberry An evergreen shrub with spreading rapidly. Over has escaped cultivation, leathery, spiny leaves, the past two decades, becoming common along leatherleaf mahonia spreads populations have The Challenge roadsides, fence lines, and by bird-dispersed seed. Seed increased 500 percent forest edges. Abundant from ripe fruit can germinate Remove invaders from your landscape and replace in Louisiana where it seeds are spread by birds immediately. Prefers moist them with native species or safe non-natives. is now the fth most and are poisonous to soil, but escaped plants have Maintain a generous proportion of natives in your established across a wide common tree. humans and livestock. EDDMapS. 2016. Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System. The University of Georgia - Center for Invasive landscape to support insects, birds, and a range of soil and light Species and Ecosystem Health. Available online at http://www.eddmaps.org/; last accessed October 20, 2016. balanced ecosystem. Restricts growth of nearby native species. conditions. Strong control efforts are Know what you grow! needed to slow its spread!