Beefsteak plant, (Perilla frutescens), a Growing Control Problem

Beefsteak plant flower
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/beefsteak.html

               Natural areas, parks and woods of the Lower Chesapeake Bay have yet another early detection of a non indigenous, alien species.  Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton 1894, [synonyms: Ocimum frutescens L.; Perilla ocymoides L.] beefsteak plant, has been found to be spreading beyond Maryland's cultivated, managed gardens and landscapes. Escaped from gardens in New York as early as 1898, it was reported as a weed of wastelands.[1]  Bernard McMahon, the great American horticulturalist, was selling Perilla seed as early as 1804.[2] Marc Imlay, the great weed warrior, has been weeding Perilla from parks in Maryland since 1998.[3]

               Beefsteak plant also known as Chinese basil; purple or perilla mint, is described on the Missori Botanical Garden website as

"an upright, bushy annual that is native from the Himalayas to Southeast Asia. It is related to coleus and basil. It has become a very popular foliage annual and salad herb plant. It grows to 1-3’ (less frequently to 4’) tall. Wrinkled, serrate, broad ovate, medium green leaves (to 4” long) are sometimes tinged with purple. Leaves are aromatic. Two-lipped nettle-like white flowers in spike-like inflorescences (to 4”) bloom at the stem tips in late summer and fall (August – October). Flowers are not particularly showy. This plant has escaped gardens and naturalized throughout many areas of the eastern and central U. S., including central and southern Missouri. Fresh leaves are used in Oriental cooking, salads, soups and as garnishes. Deep red leaves of some perilla varieties purportedly resemble the color of uncooked beef, hence the common name."

USDA Plants - spread of Purilla frutescens
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=pefr4

               Perilla frutescens is reported as invasive in DC, IL, MD, MO, PA, TN, VA,

and WV and occurring in all states east of Colorado, parts of Canada, as well as the State of Washington on the west coast (excluding, for now, the Dakotas). The Forest Service (USDA) is aware that beefsteak plant is often planted as showy ornamentals,  that

"may readily escape cultivation, spreading to disturbed areas where they disrupt native ecosystems. The species has toxic characteristics and very few predators. It is ordinarily avoided by cattle and has been implicated in cattle poisoning. Plants are most toxic if cut and dried for hay late in the summer, during seed production. One reason for beefsteak plants’ survival in pastures is that cattle avoid it. Sold as a salad plant for its dark purple foliage, this member of the mint family is extremely invasive by wind-borne seeds."[4]

Chinese basil or perilla mint - Perilla frutescens
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/poison/plants/ppperil.htm

               Purdue Extension Service website control recommendations include "...pulling or digging it up, mowing it, or using herbicides. 2,4-D, Milestone®, Forefront®, Weedmaster®, and glyphosate."  Dr. Imlay, however, notes an ominous sign that control of Perilla frutescens, as well as control of Japanese stiltgrass, Microsteigum virineum Camus 1921[1922], is becoming much more difficult. Imlay told me that he and his volunteers removed 100% of the beefsteak plants by hand pulling until 2010 when many newly emergent patches in open space and lightly shaded areas emerged. He also noted that  existing patches of Perilla frutescens  no longer declined by ~80 % each year in 'weeded'  sections of the park as they had in previous years. 

               "In 2010," Imlay said, " I switched to herbicide treatment and sprayed 20 gallons. A great reduction occurred in 2011 and I only had to spray 2.2 gallons along with modest hand pulling. However, in 2012 many new patches appeared, all of which were treated or hand pulled. But this year many, many new and expanded patches have appeared increasing the coverage of beefsteak plant from about 1/10 th acre to about 1/2 acre.  As of September 6 we have already sprayed 60 gallons and only sprayed about half of the beefsteak plant."

         While preventing and introduction is the first line of defense, even the best prevention efforts will not stop all harmful invasive species. In the case of beefsteak plant, however, preventing its introduction has been off the table for over 200 years. However using the tools of IPM (Integrated Pest Management), such as early detection and rapid response (EDRR), at a local level can greatly support effective management and even in some cases elimination. EDRR efforts increase the likelihood that invasions that can lead to establishment and spread of harmful species will be halted and eradicated. Once a species becomes widely established in an ecosystem, the only action possible is the partial mitigation of negative impacts. Based on the work of the ISAC/NISC EDRR Subcommittee, NISC has approved Guidelines for Early Detection and Rapid Response. 

Additional References

Ali, S.I., Raven, P.H. & Hoch, P., 2012. Flora of Pakistan Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton. tropicos.org Flora of Pakistan. Available at: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200019964 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Brenner, D.M., 1993. Perilla: Botany, uses and genetic resources. In J. Janick & J. E. Simon, eds. New Crops. New York, NY USA: John. Wiley & sons, inc., pp. 322–328. Available at: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-322.html.

Britton, N.L., 1894. List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta growing without Cultivation in Northeastern North America. Committee of the Botanical Club American Association for the Advancement of Science, ed. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club, 5(18), p.277. Available at: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31876217 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Britton, N.L. & Brown, A., 1898. An illustrated flora of the northern United States: Canada and the British possessions from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic ocean westward to the 102d meridian, C. Scribner’s Sons. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=uHdXAAAAMAAJ.

Brouillet, L., Coursol;, F. & Favreau, M., 2012. VASCAN. Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Available at: http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/taxon/6430 [Accessed April 3, 2012].

Burton, R.H., 1933. Perilla frutescens; North America; USA; Connecticut; Middlesex County. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Available at: http://peabody.research.yale.edu/cgi-bin/Query.Ledger?LE=bot&ID=irn 1385009&SU=0 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Chen, J. et al., 1997. Plant Distribution and Diversity Across an Ozark Landscape, Available at: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nc227/gtr_nc227_045.pdf.

Douce, G.K. et al., 2005. Invasive.org: a Web-based Image Archive and Database System Focused on North American Exotic and Invasive Species. In K. W. Gottschalk, ed. Proceedings, XV U.S. Department of Agriculture interagency research forum on gypsy moth and other invasive species 2004. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station.

Dӧnmez, A.A., 2002. Perilla: a New Genus for Turkey. Turk J Bot, 26, pp.281–283. Available at: http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/issues/bot-02-26-4/bot-26-4-9-0109-1.pdf.

Eames, E.H., 1916. Perilla frutescens; North America; USA; Connecticut; Fairfield County. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Available at: http://peabody.research.yale.edu/cgi-bin/Query.Ledger?LE=bot&ID=irn 1385010&SU=0 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Everest, J.W., Powe Jr., T.A. & Freeman, J.D., 2006. Poisonous Plants of the Southeastern United States, Available at: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0975/ANR-0975.pdf.

Forest Health Staff, 2005. Beefsteak Plant: Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.

GBIF ed., 2012. GBIF. In Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Available at: http://data.gbif.org/search/Perilla/India [Accessed April 4, 2012].

Harger, E.B., 1901. Perilla frutescens; North America; USA; Connecticut; New Haven County. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Available at: http://peabody.research.yale.edu/cgi-bin/Query.Ledger?LE=bot&ID=irn 1379606&SU=0 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Honda, G. et al., 1994. Genetic control of geranial formation in Perilla frutescens. Biochemical Genetics, 32(5-6), pp.155–159.

Hwang, L.S., 1997. Anthocyanins from Perilla. In H.-C. Yu, K. Kosuna, & M. Haga, eds. Perilla; the genus Perilla. Harwood Academy Publishers, p. 171.

Kim, K.-H. et al., 2004. Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Perilla frutescens. Plant Cell Reports, 23(6), pp.386–390.

Kral, R. et al., 2012. Perilla frutescens. Alabama Plant Atlas. Available at: http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=2435 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Lee, H.R. et al., 1995. Foraging activities and pollination efficacies of the pollinators on the hot pepper (Capsicum annuum), the perilla (Perilla frutescens var. japonica) and the sesame (Sesamum orientale). Korean Journal of Agriculture, 10(2), pp.117–122.

Li, X. & Hedge, I.C., 2008. Flora of China Perilla frutescens (Linnaeus) Britton. eFloras.org, 7. Available at: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200019964 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Masumoto, N. & Ito, M., 2010. Germination rates of perilla (Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton) mericarps stored at 4 degrees C for 1-20 years. Journal of natural medicines, 64(3), pp.378–382.

Negi, V.S. et al., 2011. Perilla frutescens in Transition: a medicinal and oil yielding plant need instant conservation, a case study from Central Himalaya, India. Environ. We Int. J. Sci. Tech., 6, pp.193–200. Available at: http://www.ewijst.org/issues/vol_6/ewijst060433059.pdf.

Press, J.R., Shrestha, K.K. & Sutton, D.A., 2000. Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton. eFloras.org Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. Available at: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200019964 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

Ragazinskiene, O. et al., 2006. The influence of meteorological factors on growth and vegetation process of Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton in Lithuania. Medicina Kaunas Lithuania, 42(8), pp.667–672.

Roecklein, J.C. & Leung, P., 1987. A Profile of Economic Plants, New Brunswixk, New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.

Schnitzler, Schirrmacher, W.H.G. & Grassmann, J., 2006. Perilla frutescens: A vegetable and herb for a healthy diet M. L. Chadha, G. Kuo, & C. L. L. Gowda, eds. 1st International Conference on Indigenous Vegetables and Legumes Prospectus for Fighting Poverty Hunger and Malnutrition, (752), pp.143–146.

Steckel, L. & Rhodes, N., Perilla Mint. Available at: https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W135.pdf.

UMass Extension, Growing Tips 22: Annuals for the Shade. Available at: http://extension.umass.edu/floriculture/sites/floriculture/files/fact-sheets/retail-factsheets/FS22AnnualsForShade.pdf.

USDA ARS, 2012. GRIN. National Genetic Resources Program. Available at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?27364 [Accessed April 2, 2012].

USDA ARS GRIN, 2013. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Germplasm Resources Information Network, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?316751 [Accessed March 5, 2012].

USDA ARS National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, M., USDA ARS GRIN & USDA ARS, 2012. Taxon: Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière. Germplasm Resources Information Network, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?27364 [Accessed March 5, 2012].

USDA NRCS, 2013. The PLANTS Database National Plant Data Team, ed. USDA National Plant Data Team; Available at: http://plants.usda.gov [Accessed December 1, 2011].

Wada, K.C., Kondo, H. & Takeno, K., 2010. Obligatory short-day plant, Perilla frutescens var. crispa can flower in response to low-intensity light stress under long-day conditions. Physiologia Plantarum, 138(3), pp.339–345.

Yu, H.-C., Kosuna, K. & Haga, M. eds., 1997. Perilla: the genus Perilla, Harwood Academic Publishers.

Zheng, H. et al., 2006. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Invasive Plants of Asian Origin Established in the United States and Their Natural Enemies. Biological Control, 1(March), p.160. Available at: http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/20067203583.html.

 

Perilla frutescens Photographer: John D. Byrd
Source: Mississippi State University

ppi State University

    

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[1] Britton, N. L. & Brown, A., 1898. An illustrated flora of the northern United States: Canada and the British possessions from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic ocean westward to the 102d meridian, C. Scribner’s Sons.  

[2] M'Mahon, B., 1804. Seed Catalogue. in:  Special Collections of USDA ARS NAL, Beltsville, Maryland.

[3] Imlay, M., 2013. 'Spray log: Swann Park, Maryland October 1998'. personal communication with John Peter Thompson

               see also

Kobell, R., April 30, 2012. Weed warrior Marc Imlay leads the battle to conquer invading plants. Bay Journal. accessed Sept 18, 2013 ] http://www.bayjournal.com/article/weed_warrior_marc_imlay_leads_the_battle_to_conquer_invading_plants

[4]"Weed of the Week" http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/beefsteak-plant.pdf  Produced by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Staff, Newtown Square, PA. WOW 01-23-05 Invasive Plants website: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants

More invasive species detected at US ports in the Mid Atlantic

               Insect as well as plant and animal species from around the world can hitch a ride in a manner of speaking, on cargo shipments, moving from their native lands to exotic foreign destinations, and sometimes stay and establish a new home. Ports of entry like Baltimore and Norfolk are doorways to establishment of species that may impact livelihoods by altering the characteristic services of ecological systems.

               The front-line of defense is the U. S. CBP,

"one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components, with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. It also has a responsibility for securing the border and facilitating lawful international trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations, including immigration and drug laws. Amopng other tasks," CBP performs two crucial roles in facilitating trade to and from the U.S. and around the globe: securing it from acts of terrorism and assuring that goods arriving in the U.S. are legitimate and that appropriate duties and fees are paid."[1]

Working with USDA ARS Systematic Entomology Laboratory and USDA APHIS Plant Inspection Stations, and APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ). the organizations work to protect American jobs, businesses and the ecosystems that support them. Recent interceptions of non-native and potentially harmful insect species provide  highlights of the impossible nature of their underfunded mission. USDA APHIS PPQ reported at the Maryland Invasive Species Council's May 2013 meeting the following interceptions.

Macroglossum stellatarum
tpittaway.tripod.com

               At the port in Norfolk, Virginia CBP intercepted for the first time, Macroglossum stellatarum  Linnaeus (1758), the hummingbird hawk-moth. The moth is found though out most of Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. While the species is unable to survive cold winters, the adults are strong enough fliers that they seasonally migrate from the Mediterranean region North to Sweden & Iceland. The Encyclopedia of Life notes that

"The hummingbird hawk-moth is named for its long proboscis (straw like mouth) and its hovering behavior, which, accompanied by an audible humming noise, give it remarkable resemblance to a hummingbird as it visits flowers to feed on nectar."[2]

Humans see various shades of dull brown or grey in the forewings of the moth. On the other hand, they reveal characteristic fluorescent yellow, violet, purple and green patterns under ultraviolet light . Thus to birds and other insects the moth is most likely brightly patterned.[3]

Coreus marginatus
www.britishbugs.org.uk

               The Port of Norfolk also saw for the first time the arrival and discovery of Coreus marginatus Linnaeus (1758). The uninvited accidental visitor was found in a shipment of tile from Italy. This species if found throughout most of Europe where it feeds on plants in the genus Rumex. In addition inspectors also discovered at the Norfolk facility an adult moth hiding out amongst military cargo. The moth was identified as Autophila ligaminosa Eversmann (1851). This is the first time this species found in the sub-alpine region from the Balkans west to Afghanistan has been identified entering the US.  

Autophila ligaminosa 
www.ppis.moag.gov.il -

               In the historic rivalry between Virginia and Maryland, the Port of Baltimore was not without its own early detection of non native visitors taking advantage of the enormous flow of global trade. And to make matters even worse one of the interception was yet another stink bug. Baltimore CBP found a moderate sized stinkbug in a shipment of tile that was later identified to be Sciocoris sideritidis Wollaston (1858). This is the first time this species has been identified entering the US. Just wait until an undetected mating pair of this new species to the shores of the United States sets up shop and works with the two existing invasive stink bugs already sucking their way through vegetables, fruits, and soya beans. Reducing USDA funding through political mismanagement and grand standing in Congress is a sure way to encourage this opportunity. 

Sciocoris sideritidis
www.naturedugard.org 

             And last but not least, remembering that airports are ports too, a baggage interception in Baltimore was confirmed to be Tetraleurodes andropogoni Dozier (1934), a type of white fly. This is the first time this species have been intercepted entering the US.  According to CPB "the insects were discovered on fresh leaves being carried by a passenger originating from Nigeria and arriving from the United Kingdom."[4]  

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[1] http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/about/

[2] EOL. Macroglossum stellatarum. [accessed May 17, 2013] http://eol.org/pages/396579/overview

[3] Macroglossum Scopoli, 1777, Introd. Hist. nat.: 414. [accessed May 17, 2013] http://tpittaway.tripod.com/sphinx/m_ste.htm

[4] Baltimore CBP Intercepts First in Nation Whitefly. Thursday, April 11, 2013. [accessed May 17, 2013] http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/local/04112013_7.xml

HEAR CLOSING - a message from Dr. David Duffy (PCSU/UH)

November 6 2012

HEAR CLOSING - a message from Dr. David Duffy (PCSU/UH)

A message from Dr. David Duffy, Pacific Cooperative Studies
Unit/University of Hawaii:

    "Because of a lack of funds, the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR) (http://www.hear.org) may close as soon as December 15, although there may be enough funds to extend it until February 15. This will mean several things. The web site will be placed on a new server although it is not clear who will pay for the server or for transitioning the site. HEAR data will not be updated. The Pacific Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
site (see http://www.hear.org/pier/abtproj.htm) will also become frozen, as will numerous books, reports and papers. As software evolves we will likely lose the ability to access the data. The various list servers will need new owners, otherwise moderated lists will cease to function altogether, while other lists will not be able to add or delete members. The Starr photo collection will remain accessible, but only through a third party site that will charge for access.
    I should point out that we have already lost the original home of the Pacific Basin Information Node (PBIN) website, although it has found temporary refuge. Together with HEAR, this site represents the corporate memory both here in Hawaii and across the Pacific of efforts to sustain our natural ecosystems and agriculture against problems caused by
species alien to the islands. HEAR also serves as the glue that holds the community together, providing information and facilitating communication. I just hope hindsight is kind to this decision."

               Invasive species are all around us, but most of us never see them. Except for a small group of dedicated people, who over the years have studied and documented the changes in the landscapes of our world, most of us remain oblivious to the changes that are happening to the environment. To those who watch and know the changes brought about by the introduction of novel species, the spread of invasive species is like a wild fire consuming the habitats that shelter life as we know it.

               Invasive species destroy our crops and reduce the food supply that 7 billion people need. Invasive species foul our waters and cost us resources that most of us do not even know we have. Our expectations allow us to presume that resources provided by the diversity of life will always be available to us. As we allow our physical manmade infrastructure to crumble, the ecological systems that surround and support them are changing fast and costing us more.

               The free access of information that once was found in libraries is growing ever smaller, and in the world of invasive species the little electronic portals of knowledge are blinking out along with their hardcopy brethren because some of us feel there is no role for common access to science and experience. In some ways the loss of information will result in a world that knows nothing of the problems facing us as invasive species reduce the resources once at hand. In a tangled twist, the absence of information is validation to many that there is no problem. Without access to species information and their impact on ecosystems, communities will each have to learn anew the effect and cost that some novel species can have on our daily lives.

               The fisherman will see no problem until the lake loses its many species to an exotic flying carp; the farmer will be oblivious until the stink bug reaches his soy bean fields; the gardener will know nothing until the running bamboo takes out the foundation of the home; the child's parent will be content until the python attacks at dusk; the sick will not realize the impact of the insect bite until the doctor speaks of mosquitoes from a distant land; the homeowner will be amused until he learns the cost of termites from a place far far away.

               Then, and only then, when it is too late, will the costs of ignorance come home to roost.  HEAR and PIER provided information in depth to one and all. Individuals and their communities who bear the cost of invasive species and who are unable to pay individually for research information are the losers. They will pay in damage to their fields, gardens and public lands because we did not have the will to provide knowledge to one and all as a public infrastructure service. James Madison wrote to W.T. Barry in 1822:

"A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."[1]

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[1] Kurland & Lerner, eds. 2000. Epilogue: Securing the Republic,  Chapter 18. © 1987 by The University of Chicago. [accessed November 6, 2012]  http://press-ubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18s35.html

Invasive Wavyleaf Basketgrass Oplismenus hirtellus ssp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz - Bibliography

Image from: Sierra Club, Maryland Chapter: Wavy Leaf Basket Grass: An In-Depth Look

  

Atlas of Living Australia. (2012). Oplismenus undulatifolius (Ard.) Roem. & Schult. [WWW Document]. Australian node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). URL http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Oplismenus+undulatifolius

Beauchamp, V.B. (2012). Niche requirements and competitive effects of a new forest invader, Oplismenus hirtellus spp. undulatifolius (wavyleaf basket grass). In: 997th ESA Annual Meeting (August 5 -- 10, 2012) program annoucement and abstracts. Towson, Maryland, USA.

Chen, S. & Hillips, S.M. (2012). Flora of China. Harvard University Herbaria, 22, 593–598.

Dakskobler, I. & Vreš, B. (2009). Novosti v flori severnega dela submediteranskega območja Slovenije (Novelities in the flora of) the northern part of the Submediterranean region of Slovenija. Hladnikia, 24, 13–34.

Dalziel, J.M. & Hutchinson, J. (1948). The useful plants of west tropical Africa: being an appendix to the Flora of west tropical Africa. Published under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Colonies by the Crown Agents for the Colonies.

Davey, J.C. & Clayton, W.D. (1978). Some multiple discriminant function studies on Oplismenus (Gramineae). Kew Bull., 33, 147 – 157.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). (2012). GBIF Data Portal [WWW Document]. GBIF Secretariat. URL http://data.gbif.org/species/4033648/

Hitchcock, A.S. (1920). Revisions of North American grasses: Isachne, Oplismenus, Echinochloa, and Chaetochloa. Govt. Print. Off.

Hitchcock, A.S. (1935). Manual of Grasses of the United States. Miscellane. United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., USA.

ISSG. (2012). Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) [WWW Document]. Invasive Species Specialist Group of the IUCN Species. URL http://www.issg.org/database

Kyde, K.L. & Marose, B.H. (2008). Wavyleaf basketgrass in Maryland: an early detection rapid response program in progress [WWW Document]. Invasive Resources,. URL http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Plants_Wildlife/WLBG/pdfs/wlbg_poster011108.pdf

Long, E.A. (1874). The home florist: a treatise on the cultivation, management and adaptability of flowering and ornamental plants, designed for the use of amateur florists. Long Brothers, Buffalo, NY USA.

PCA-APWG. (2010). Wavyleaf Basketgrass Oplismenus hirtellus ssp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz [WWW Document]. PCA-APWG. URL http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/ophiu.htm

Palisot de Beauvois, A.M.F.J. (1812). Essai d’une Nouvelle Agrostographie. Paris, FR.

Peterson, P.M., Terrell, E.E., Uebel, E.C., Davis, C.A., Scholz, H. & Soreng, R.J. (1999). Oplismenus hirtellus subspecies undulatifolius, a new record for North America. Castanea, 64, 201–202.

Plants for Use. (2008). Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) Palib. POACEAE Common names: Basket Grass (Hortus) [WWW Document]. URL http://plantsforuse.com/index.php?page=1&id=2604

Scholz, H. & Byfeld, A.J. (2000). Three Grasses New to Turkey. Turk J Bot, 24, 263–267.

Scholz, U. (1981). Monographie der Gattung Oplismenus Gramineae. Phanerogamarum monographiae, 13, 213.

Snow, N. & Lau, A. (2008). Notes on grasses (Poaceae) in Hawai‘i: 2. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey, Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, 107, 46–60.

The Plant List. (2010). Version 1 [WWW Document]. URL http://www.theplantlist.org/

Thompson, J.P. (2009). Invasive species: wavyleaf basketgrass - Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. undulatifolius [WWW Document]. Invasive Notes Weblog. URL http://ipetrus.blogspot.com/2009/04/invasive-species-wavyleaf-basketgrass.html

USDA ARS. (2012). Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [WWW Document]. National Genetic Resources Program. URL http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?27364

USDA-APHIS PPQ CPHST. (2009). Differences of Oplismenus hirtellus ssp. undulatifolius to native and horticultural taxa. Fort Collins, Colorado USA.

USDA-APHIS PPQ PERAL. (2012). Weed Risk Assessment for Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) P. Beauv. subsp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz (Poaceae) – Wavyleaf basketgrass - ver 2, June 14, 2012. Raleigh, NC 27606 USA.

USDA-ARS. (2012). Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). [WWW Document]. URL http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?316751

Valdés, B., Scholz, H., Raab-Straube, E. von & Parolly, G. (2009). Poaceae (pro parte majore) [WWW Document]. Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. URL http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetailOccurrence.asp?NameId=140116&PTRefFk=7100000

Wavyleaf Basketgrass Task Force -. (2009). Wavyleaf Basketgrass Task Force Meeting Minutes.

Weakley, A.S. (2011). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. North Carolina Botanical Garden & University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Westbrooks, R. & Imlay, M. (2009). Wavyleaf Basketgrass – A New Invader of Deciduous Forests in Maryland and Virginia.

Wipff, J.K. (2009). Flora of North America - Oplismenus P. Beauv.- 25.06. Flora of North America.

eFloras.org. (2012). Flora of Pakistan [WWW Document]. eFloras.org. URL http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=60963&flora_id=5

  

History of the Introduction of Mile-a-minute weed (vine) - Persicaria perfoliata

Early warning that went unnotcied; for more on the story see: Edouards Baltars - Collection of Mile-a-minute in Maryland Aug. 23, 1964

History of the Introduction of Mile-a-minute weed (vine) - Persicaria perfoliata

Extract from my report to the US Forest Service: full document includes and annotated bibliography email request for full pdf at ipetrus"at"mns.com

               Persicaria perfoliata (L.) Gross, Mile-a-minute weed or vine, is an annual vine indigenous to Asia that infests nurseries, orchards, openings in forested areas, roadsides, and drainage ditches in the eastern United States (Yun Wu, R. C. Reardon and Ding, 2002). The introduction and establishment of Persicaria perfoliata in eastern North America, and the corresponding potential to cause economic or environmental harm was reported in Rhodora, the Journal of the New England Botanical Club. In the summer of 1946, a specimen from an ornamental nursery in Stewartstown, York County, Pennsylvania, was sent to Dr. John M. Fogg[1] at the University of Pennsylvania Herbarium.[2]  The new species was first detected around 1936 in the germination of holly seeds sent from Japan. The unknown species was identified at the time as Polygonum perfoliatum (L)  ⁽and checked against specimens in the collections of the National Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia and the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University (Moul, 1948). 

Mile-a-minute on the run: 
Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org 

               The establishment of Persicaria perfoliata in the Chesapeake watershed was an unintended outcome of the hybridization program  that produced some of the most reliable rhododendron hybrids for the United States. Although  Persicaria perfoliata was collected as early as 1890 as Polygonum perfoliatum on ballast (Suksdorf 1607) by Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf  (1867-1935), a botanist living in Bingen, Washington, the species failed to establish (J. C. Hickman and C. S. Hickman, 1977). Persicaria perfoliata was also collected in 1954 under the name Polygonum perfoliatum 2.5 miles north and 1 mile east of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada, by D. Faris Jr. (Faris 261)  There are no further herbaria records for Persicaria perfoliata in British Columbia, Canada, suggesting that either the species failed to establish or that is being misidentified (Hill, Springer and Forer, 1981).

Table 1 Persicaria perfoliata Details for: V47875 - 1954 collection BC, Canada UBC[3]

Accession No. V47875  Family Polygonaceae Scientific Name Polygonum perfoliatum Country Canada Province/State British Columbia Location 2.5 miles north and 1 mile east of Pitt Meadows Latitude Longitude UTM Grid Reference Datum Habitat Patches growing over sprayed Canada Thistle by road. Altitude Date 1954 Sep 8 Collector(s) D. Faris Jr. Collection No. 261 Determined by C.F. 1954 Notes To 2 m long- light green foliage. Maturing- bright blue covering over dark blue. Division of Botany, Science Service Department of agriculture, Ottawa, Canada. Previous Identifications

                 In 1926 Joseph Benson Gable (1886 - 1972) started an ornamental nursery on the family farm and orchard land where he was born.  Starting out at first with native evergreens, trees and shrubs, he eventually turned his attention to hybridizing some 2000 cultivated varieties of hardy rhododendrons and azaleas suitable to the climatic gardening conditions of Mid-Atlantic (Weingartner, 1973).[4] Gable planted his seedlings and hybrids among the woodlands on his land, a form of horticultural intercropping that helped him "select" the most adaptable specimens suitable to real-life landscape conditions.[5]   

               Gable was attracted to the ornamental potential of Persicaria perfoliata's blue berries and allowed the plant to grow and reproduce in his "woodland" nursery the following year.  The novel introduction quickly established a monoculture between the rows of trees in the family orchard as well as along the paths and lanes of the nursery "choking all other herbaceous plants". Dr. Edwin T. Moul, a noted phycologist and Professor of Botany at Rutgers University, was shown around the nursery in October 1946 by Mr. Jack Swartley.[6]  Moul noted the vigor of Persicaria perfoliata was such that it overwhelmed and killed even Lonicera japonica Thunb. as well as Sambucus canadensis L. and various Rubus species. Moul also pointed out that Persicaria perfoliata was able to cause defoliation of apple trees in the orchard.  Mr. Gable reportedly used 2-4D in an futile, ineffective attempt to control the now spreading, aggressive weed. Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica, did more damage than the chemical control (2-4D). However he also noted that the Persicaria perfoliata (P. perfoliatum) recovered quickly after the beetles abundance and infestation peaked in mid-summer (Moul, 1948).  

mile-a-minute weed -fruit-  

Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross:
Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org

               In 1936, P. perfoliata (reported as Polygonum perfoliatum) germinated in a research seed project at the USDA Plant Industry Station in Beltsville, Prince George's County, Maryland.[7] According to Dr. Joseph Ewan, USDA Glenn Dale Research Station, the Persicaria perfoliata germinated in seed received from Nanjing, Jinagsu Province, China. In the seed of a species Meliosa sent for C. W. Cowgill's research which did not germinate Persicaria perfoliata seedlings grew and subsequently were eradicated (Moul, 1948). It is possible the species designated as  Meliosa was a misspelling of Meliosma a genus that was under investigation and grown from seed at the research facility in the mid to late 1930s (Erlanson, 1949). By the 1950s, Persicaria perfoliata was seen as a possibly "troublesome weed" that was becoming established in Pennsylvania nurseries (Gray, 1950). 

               Eduards Baltars, a University of Riga, Latvia, trained botanist who came to the United States in 1949, collected several specimens of P. perfoliatum which he sent to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (1959) and the University of Maryland Norton Brown Herbaria (1964; see Table 8). Eduards Baltars took over the curation of the Clyburn herbarium in Baltimore and continued to collect native species of Maryland flora until he died in 1972.[8]  P. perfoliata was reported in Maryland and by 1982 was established and spreading throughout central Maryland reaching the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center along the mid-reaches of the Patuxent River in Maryland by 1989.[9] Persicaria perfoliata was found in North Carolina in 2010 continuing its spread along the east coast of the United States, as well as moving west into Ohio. (Bargeron and Moorhead, 2007; Poindexter, 2010; Tropicos.org, 2011). http://www.invasive.org/images/384x256/5273091.jpg

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[1] Dr. John Milton Fogg, Jr., botanist, University of Pennsylvania professor, Dean, and Vice Provost, director of the Morris Arboretum, instructor at the Arboretum School of the Barnes Foundation, and director of the Barnes Foundation Arboretum: John Milton Fogg Papers, 1931-1982. http://www.barnesfoundation.org/assets/public/ead/jmf_frameset.html  

[2] (Swartley 1946) (J. C. Hickman and C. S. Hickman, 1977)

[3] UBC Herbarium.  [accessed December 11, 2011]: http://herbie.zoology.ubc.ca/~botany/herbarium/details.php?db=vwsp.fp7&layout=vwsp_web_details&recid=139488&ass_num=V47875

[4] Weingartner, E. W. (1973). Gable Azaleas In The Olive W. Lee Memorial Garden. Journal American Rhododendron Society, 27(2). Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v27n2/v27n2-weingartner.htm

"About 1,500 of the approximately 2,000 azaleas in the Lee garden are Gable hybrids and the oldest are now more than 30 years old. Maturity has revealed the ultimate characteristics of each variety. Thus the original 'Mary Dalton' is 15 feet high, although many of its branches are pendant from the burden of its salmon-pink flowers over the years. 'Forest Fire' is not a large plant but is said to be the only existing hybrid with R. tschonoskii as a parent, and its sheets of blossoms are so densely packed that most are unable to open beyond the bud stage. There are a number of highly regarded but as yet unnamed seedlings in the garden. The most interesting of these is T-4-G, a very dwarf, dense, dome-shaped plant covered with double salmon-pink flowers. 'Stewartstonian' is probably the purest red of any azalea, and that feature has been exploited by a mass planting of some 125 specimens, now mature, on a slope back lighted by the afternoon sun. Another area has been given over to 35 specimens of 'Mary Dalton' which at blooming time block the path they line under the weight of their flowers. After the original 'Mary Dalton,' probably the most admired specimen is a huge plant of 'Big Joe' which towers over and seems to shelter other varieties in the same color range. (One frequent visitor makes it a practice to curtsy as she passes 'Big Joe.')

        The introduction of Gable rhododendrons has probably not yet ended and Caroline Gable continues to screen the seedlings remaining in the famed Gable woods, exercising the same disciplined judgment which made the original Gable label assurance of the highest quality. In general the rhododendron plants in the Memorial Garden are not as old as the azaleas, but two Gable hybrids which are greatly admired are specimens of 'Cadis' and 'Caroline,' secured in 1952, some years before they were introduced. 'Cadis' is now 8 feet high and 11 feet wide and has carried as many as 535 trusses. "

[5] The Rhododendron Legacy of Joe Gable  by Donald W. Hyatt.  Hybrids and Hybridizers, Rhododendrons and Azaleas for Eastern North America, Livingston & West, Harrowood Press, 1978. http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/gable.html

[6] The author presumes that this is the same Jack Swartley - Stewardstown, York, Pennsylvannia.October 9,1946    J. C. Swartley "in old orchard" Harvard Herbarium; see Table 8 http://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/specimen_search.php?mode=details&id=228305       reference #353583.

[7] Glenn Dale  Plant Research Station, Henry A Wallace, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (USDA-ARS BARC)

[8]  Isaac Rehert. June 19, 1971. Walk With Plant Specialist Presents Variety of Lessons. Baltimore Sun

Eduards Baltars was unable to find work as a botanist, teacher or researcher. He therefore worked as a carpenter and donated his time and knowledge to the people of Maryland as a volunteer curating the herbarium and planting and maintaining the native plant section of the Clyburn Arboretum in Baltimore, Maryland.

[9] personal communication with the author:  Matthew C. Perry, Research Wildlife Biologist, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. email March 7, 2012

"I first identified mile a minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum) at Patuxent on September 11, 1989 in the Gabrielson Lab drainage ditch."

Edouards Baltars - Collection of Mile-a-minute in Maryland Aug. 23, 1964

Eduards Baltars, Aug 23, 1964. Baltimore County. Polygonum perfoliatum (Persicaria perfoliata). Norton Brown Herbarium University of Maryland, College Park #3603:

for the Story of the Introduction of Mile-a-Minute see;
History of the Introduction of Mile-a-minute weed (vine) - Persicaria perfoliata

               We live in a society where it is not so much what you know but what boxes you have checked off along the way to a piece of paper that is important. And then once armed with the correct documentation, the inclination is to assume those who have not checked the same boxes must by definition not have knowledge or information worth knowing or hearing.

               Edouards Baltars had much to offer a world that did not listen and is paying the price. Eduards Baltars left a legacy quietly forgotten that sounded the alrm about ivnasive species before invasive species issues were taught or thought about or even cool. Edouards Baltars lived and worked in forgotten silence at the very beginning of the ideas of invasion biology.

               And because he was "just" a carpenter, those who should have been listening, never heard his crystal clear clarion call to action; his warning about Mile-a-minute vine in North America. 15 years before the modern literature began to ring with alarm, the knowledgable  carpenter  saw, collected and stated the problem of Persicaria perfoliata, which he knew as Polygonum perfoliatum.

               Eduards Baltars was not just a carpenter of course, but a trained botanist without the proper creditals or language skills to get along in his adopted country. Born in Riga, Latvia, he and his wife, Marta, had fled the country after World War II arriving in the United States in 1944. Here because his language skills were not consider adequate , the university trained botanist found work as a carpenter. He knew enough to teach or work in a public research institution, but there was no mechanism that recognized his knowledge and experience.

               Over the next two decades he would devote his free time to Maryland's flora volunteering his skills and knowledge to plant and carefor a native plant garden in Baltimore, as well as collecting and mounting at least 287 botanical specimens for various U.S.  herbaria. He did this at no pay for over 20 years enriching our knowledge of our natural resources because he loved plants and learning.[1]

               Among his sheets of dried botanical plants carefully preserved are multiple collections of P. perfoliata, mile-a-minute. And here is the stunning surprise for those who think they know about this invasive plant: The literature mentions Moul, 1946, and then Hinkman and Hinkman,1979, and from there off to the races with Riefner and Windler, 1979. But the quiet carpenter had found this species in 1959 at the "border of Gunpowder Falls N[orth] of Corbett Rd, E[ast] of Corbett".  Only two years earlier another "uneducated" naturalist, Floyd Bartley, had found the invasive mile-a-minute in Owings Mill, Maryland. Both men submitted their specimen to the Smithsonian.[2]

               This however is not the end of the story, for identifying but not notifying is to not complete the circuit of early detection and rapid response (EDRR). Eduards Baltars did not stop for on August 23, 1964 on a collection specimen sheet he typed:

"according to my observation Polygonum perfoliatum is rapidly spreading Maryland. I know 3 locations in Harford County and in Baltimore County it grows along streams and railroads from the Pennsylvanian border south to Coockeysville. N .W. of Phoenix (Baltimore Co.) is 3/4 mile stretch along a railroad where all shrubs are covered with this pest. In some places it grows together with P.scandens."   

               This 1964 specimen was colelcted at the border of Gunpowder Falls, along the railroad southeast of Sparks in Baltimore County Maryland.

               As I try to find funding that would allow me to begin to inventory our disappearing collections, I am reminded of a saying: Nature communicates the past to the future, by storing information in the present.  Eduard Baltars is shouting at us here and now from the past, and we continue to be deaf and dumb; our needs do not seem to include the changes around us; or is it that we do not want to know? My quest to find funding is as quixotic in as Baltars' incessant plant collecting and clear warning.

                .

Bibliography 
Edouards Baltars; E Fisher; et al. List of plants collected by Edouards Baltars in Maryland, 1951-1971, not included in Norton & Brown's catalogue of 1946. Cylburn Park Wildflower Preserve and Garden Center. Baltimore, MD.  p.34 

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[1] Isaac Rehert. June 19, 1971. Walk With Plant Specialist Presents Variety of Lessons. Baltimore Sun

[2] Botany Collections. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. reference numbers:  Bartley 2313406; Baltars 2313406.