Open Letter to Congress: Control of Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius

Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius
Habitat Conservation
Wildlife and Heritage Service
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

We, Alan Ford amford@acm.org 703.732.5291, Virginia Native Plant Society, and Marc Imlay, Conservation biologist, ialm@erols.com 301-283-0808h, 301-442-5657c Maryland Native Plant Society, on behalf of the organizations and their members listed below, request $5-10 million funding to detect and treat Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius in Maryland and Virginia. The only hope we have to save 10% of the natural environment in 1/4th of the United States is emergency federal, state and county legislation and non-profit funding. It is spreading very rapidly this year and covers all our woodland habitats like astroturf, killing all the other herbaceous plants. It is far worse than Japanese Stiltgrass which already is a monoculture over 10% of the national parks in this region. It forms a dense carpet of hundreds of acres after 5-10 years if not controlled. So far it is only in Maryland and Virginia so we still have a chance to contain it. 

The funds could be administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, State of Virginia, and U. S. Department of the Interior for detection and removal of Wavyleaf Basketgrass by Federal, State and County agencies and on private lands such as Piedmont Environmental Council and The Nature Conservancy at the known sites and other sites in Maryland and Virginia.

We request that a portion of this funding be included in the current Virginia, Maryland and Federal omnibus spending packages. We request additional funding be included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The next stimulus package is a good option since the proposal is ready to go for work starting in April each year.  Please contact Alan Ford amford@acm.org 703.732.5291, Virginia Native Plant Society, and Marc Imlay, Conservation biologist, ialm@erols.com 301-283-0808h, 301-442-5657c Maryland Native Plant Society for more information,

Adkins Arboretum

Anacostia Watershed Society

Ancestral Knowledge

Appalachian Cherokee Nation

Chesapeake Natives, Inc

Community & Environmental Defense Services

Earth Charter

Earth Sangha

Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek

Friends of Patapsco Valley & Heritage Greenway

Herring Run Watershed Association

Invasive Plant Control Inc

Maryland Academy of Science

Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation (MAGIC)

Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Maryland Conservation Council, Inc. 

Maryland Native Plant Society

Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council,

Patuxent Riverkeeper

Piedmont Environmental Council

Reston Association

Southern Maryland Audubon Society, Inc

Straughan Environmental Services, Inc.

Virginia Native Plant Society

Washington Quaker Workcamps

William Penn House

Please contact your local, state and federal senators and representatives for Maryland and Virginia and surrounding states from South Carolina to Massachusetts, west to Missouri and Minnesota.

Contact information for Maryland:

Senator Benjamin Cardin

PHONE: 202-224-4524 (DC office)
FAX: 202-224-1651 (DC office)

Senator Barbara Mikulski

PHONE: 202-224-4654 (DC office)

FAX: 202-224-8858 (DC office)

Bartlett, Roscoe, 6th

Phone: 202-225-2721

Fax: 202-225-2193

Cummings, Elijah, 7th

Phone:   202- 225-4741

Fax:   202- 225-3178

Edwards, Donna F., 4th

Phone: 202-225-8699
Fax: 202-225-8714

Hoyer, Steny H., 5th

Phone: 202- 225-4131
Fax: 202- 225-4300

Kratovil, Jr., Frank M., 1st

Phone: 202-225-2721

Fax: 202-225-2194

Ruppersberger, Dutch, 2nd

Phone: 202-225-3061

Fax: 202-225-3094

Sarbanes, John P., 3rd

Phone: 202- 225-4016
Fax: 202- 225-9219

Van Hollen, Chris,8^th

Phone: 202- 225-5341
Fax: 202- 225-0375

Invasive Species follow up: Basket Grass Removal in Maryland and the MidAtlantic
Invasive species: wavyleaf basketgrass - Oplismenus
Invasive Species are eating your lunch; and change
Oplismenus Menaces the Mid Atlantic

Cultivated Flora of North America Project

As a member of an ad hoc working group’s steering committee which is planning an effort to create a Cultivated Flora of North America, I am excited to be able report on some of the topics proposed at a meeting at the National Arboretum March 5th, 2008. The meeting was led by Dr. Peter Raven and included Steve Clemants, Tom Elias, Clement Hamilton, Kevin Nixon, Bart.O’Brien, Joseph Kirkbride and Alan Whittemore. The importance of the science of systematics in general and its continuing chronic lack of support at a federal level, and for horticulture in particular, continues to occupy my free time. As we move towards ever increasing cycles of regulation and legislation, we also move towards less and less study, research and information. Whole collections are now without curators, such as scale insects at USDA ARS and, to the best of my ability to understand, the rust collection at Purdue, partially due to the belief that all information is already at our collective finger-tips on the web and, therefore, there is no need to have actual real types somewhere. And, partially due to the current mind set that someone else will take care of the problem at no cost to us. This is a mistake akin to thinking that the rivets which support a bridge are in no need of regular review and testing.

A working sub committee of the Flora team consisting of Steve Clemants, Chris Freeland, Clem Hamilton, Chuck Miller, Kevin Nixon, Bruce Ponman, Heidi Schmidt,
Alan Whittemore, John Wiersema, and Jim Zarucchi met in February at the St Louis Botanical Gardens to address the possible functions (anticipated user demands) of a Cultivated Flora of North America.

Under consideration are the abilities of the proposed system to provide or supply:
• A search by Name
• An ability to identify an unknown plant
• A capability to select a plant to satisfy particular horticultural requirements
• A process to browse for information

The flora would present or “know” “standardized” names, and would offer a method to identify a plant (description + illustration) with a way to find by name to confirm identity and/or identify by character states. In addition, the Flora would locate exemplary living specimens, offer horticultural information, give information helpful for buying the plant, assist in the selection of a plant for specific use/situation. The Flora would also provide information about origin, ethnobotany, invasiveness, phylogeny, as well as any legal information.

At this time it is proposed that pages would be defined by taxon:
• Genus
• Species
• Hybrids
• Infraspecific taxa (subspecies, varieties)
• Cultivar groups
• Cultivars

It is clear to the working group that details are many and that these proposals are for further consideration, critiquing and alteration. The group thinks that users should be able to browse by recommended scientific name, though under which authority is still under active discussion. Browsing should also include selective synonymy, common names (recommended w/ selected synonymy), cultivars (incl. groups when appropriate), hybrids at all ranks, and the ever troublesome, trademark names.

Identification of plants would include a short diagnostic description, a full technical description, photographs, and other imaging. Cultural information would include:
• Propagation
• Culture
• Pests/ disease susceptibility resistance
• Soils
• Hardiness
• Moisture
• Sun/shade
• Urban

The Flora’s interactive abilities would include access to detailed assistance on a wide range of horticultural information such as: garden-relevant morphology (e.g., habit, evergreen/deciduous, size, colors); whether the plant is annual/biennial/perennial; its cultural, hardiness, and soil needs; and special landscape uses. Other accessible information under consideration include:
• History
• Origin, provenance
• How used: ethnobotany, economic botany [entrance?]
• Toxicity
• Invasiveness
• Conservation status
• Phylogeny
• Taxonomic information
• Automatic search of literature (Agricola, Google scholar, BHL)
• Genbank
• Treaties
• Federal laws
• State laws
• (Invasive, noxious weeds, conservation status, PBR status

This is a simplified overview, and much preparatory thought and work is still needed and in progress.