Japanese knotweed

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Often we take notice of invasive plants when they are most obvious - they are in bloom, have put on their yearly growth and are standing tall or maybe wide in some cases, and really can't be missed. But today, I wanted to share an early view of an invasive perennial, Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). That review includes last year's left-overs, hollow stems standling leafless. No new growth will be initiated from these above stems and soon will be masked or hidden by this year's new growth. 

I have noticed Japanese Knotweed (I've seen it listed as: Polygonum cuspidatum or Fallopia japonica or Reynoutria japonica) around the county the last few summers, so I chose it as Tuesday's  INVASIVE of the DAY for National Invasive Plant Awareness Week.

Japanese knotweed is a non-native erect, semi-woody perennial that can grow up to and likely beyond 10 feet tall and create dense stands when unchecked.  It was introduced, as so many invasives were, as an ornamental in the late 1800's and soon escaped the garden-scape and found its way into disturbed...

  Well, on a recent odyssey to Pennsylvania, dodder was along a streamside bank, in small amounts amongst a lot of knot. Dodder as in Cuscata, a parasitic plant in the Convolvulaceae (morning glory family). Knot as in Japanese knotweed, or Fallopia japonica, touted as one of the most pervasive invasive weeds in the eastern United States.

 

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