Our weekly saga continues with the worst of the worst invasive plants. Plants so harmful to ecosystems they should never be planted, yet alone sold.
Topping the noxious list this week is Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) and Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), two plants in the same genus that are leaving a swath of destruction in their path. Just take a look at the states in which they are causing problems: Russian Olive and Autumn Olive.
Invasive Russian Olive (c) Dave Powell USDA www.invasive.org
Autumn Olive is native to China, Korea, and Japan. Russian Olive is native to southeast Asia. They were brought to the US in 1830 for cultivation and sale by the horticultural industry. They were widely planted by wildlife managers as food and shelter for wildlife.
Years ago as I was driving along the highway on my way to visit Cape May, NJ, I noticed large masses of shrubs with beautiful, silvery leaves. I pulled over and snapped a few photos so I could later identify this plant. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that this plant is invasive in almost every state in the country.
Here’s what damage it does to ecosystems:
- It will grow in open forests, prairies, roadside edges, floodplains in sun and in part shade
- It produces large amounts of small fruits, which birds seem to love. This is a problem because the birds spread the seeds far and wide in their excrement
- Russian Olive/Autumn Olive fixes nitrogen in the soil, thus changing the soil chemistry and altering native plant communities
- Shrubs grow so densely that native plants are crowded out
- Seedlings can be pulled by hand but the shrub readily resprouts if cut.
- Dense stands are very difficult to eradicate.
There are native Elaeagnus species in this country, including: Silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata), Silver Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), and Russet Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis). These are much better choices than either Autumn Olive or Russian Olive.
If your local nursery is selling either of these noxious, invasive plants, please educate them just how dangerous invasive plants are to our ecosystems.
What’s your most hated plant? The one that you fight with year after year to try and get rid of? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
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© 2009 – 2010, Carole Brown. All rights reserved.
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Well, I didn’t used to hate any plants. Now I’ve discovered amur honeysuckle taking over park woodlands in my Kansas neighborhood. Ugh! I guess that’s now my most hated.
Alison Kerr´s last post ..Montessori Great Lessons – all things are connected
English ivy. Cleaned it out of 11 acres, everything, and I mean everything was dead in it’s path and no wildlife was there. It was awful.
Then there is kudzu but I am in the south. Hating kudzu is a given.
habitatgarden´s last post ..Winter Bee Garden
@Alison, once we see firsthand how much damage invasive plants can do, we learn to hate them. Amur honeysuckle is definitely nasty, and I’m sorry to tell you, you’ll probably be finding many more plants to hate. Many areas that we think of as “natural” because they are green and full of plants are in reality nothing but invasives. It takes a huge effort to restore them.
@habitatgarden I hate English Ivy too. My neighbors think it is so pretty growing up the walls of their houses and smothering their trees. I am fighting a constant battle trying to keep it out of my yard. BTW your winter bee garden post is awesome!
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