Invasive Exotic Plant Management
in the Southeast
Southern Appalachian Cooperative
Weed Management Partnership
What is an invasive exotic plant?
Invasive –rapid growth and spread, persists, and has
robust vegetative growth, high reproductive rate,
abundant seed production, high germination rate, and
longevity.
Exotic –introduced by humans to locations outside its
native range for livestock forage, soil retention,
ornamental purposes, or accidentally.
Also known as nonnative, exotic, foreign,
non-indigenous, alien, noxious weeds…
Invasive Species:
What’s the Problem?
Invasive Exotic plants out-compete
native plants for space, sunlight,
water, and nutrients causing a
decline in biodiversity.
They also:
• Displace rare plant species
• Alter soil characteristics and
hydrologic conditions
• Interfere with natural succession
• Compete for pollinators
• Replace complex communities with
single species monocultures
• Repel native birds, mammals, and
insects
Tree of Heaven
Ailanthus altissima
• Dark green, spear shaped
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leaves with small lobes at
base with circular glands
Smooth, not serrated leaf
Alternate leaves on reddish
twigs
Crushed leaves and broken
twigs have strong odor
May easily be confused with
sumac, black walnut, pecan,
ash
Princess Tree
Paulownia tomentosa
• Large, fuzzy, heart-shaped
leaves
• Upright clusters of seed
pods persist throughout
winter
• Showy pale violet flowers in
early spring
• Twigs gray brown with
abundant white specs
Mimosa
Albizia julibrissin
• Small to medium sized
tree with multiple trunks
and spreading crown
• Leaves finely divided
and fern-like
• Flowers a delicate
white and pink clusters
like pom-poms in mid
summer
• Bean pods 6 in long
and conspicuous
through early winter
Privet
Ligustrum sinense
• Stiff, glossy, oval to
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elliptical opposite
leaves
Small white four
petaled flowers in
loose clumps with
musky smell
Dark blue to black
berries in October
Multiflora Rose
Rosa multiflora
• Thorny, round shaped,
medium to large shrub
• Serrated leaflets with toothed
hairs at base of stem
• Small white flowers April to
June
• Fleshy, spherical rose hips
produce abundant seeds
• May be confused with native
roses, blackberry, and
raspberry
Japanese Knotweed
Reynoutria japonica
• Hollow bamboo-like
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stems
2-6 inch heart-shaped
leaves that are 90º at
base
Small white flowers
Olives
Elaeagnus sp.
• Alternate leaves with wavy
edges, silvery on the
underside
• Scaly twigs with scattered
thorns and abundant white
dots
• Round, juicy fruit in August
to November containing
one nutlet
Japanese spirea
Spiraea japonica
• perennial deciduous
shrub 4-6 feet in height
• round, reddish brown slender
stems, sometimes hairy
• alternate, egg shaped leaves
1-3 inches long with toothed
margins
Native Virginia spiraea
• rosy pink clustered flowers
Oriental Bittersweet
Celastrus orbiculatus
• Twining deciduous woody vine
• Alternate, glossy, round leaves
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with finely toothed margins
Small greenish flowers at base of
leaf in May
Abundant yellow fruit at base of
leaf splits to fleshy red upon
maturity
May be confused with American
bittersweet which has oblong
leaves and flowers at the terminal
of the stem
Kudzu
Pueraria montana
• Three leaflets with 2-3
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major lobes
Hairy brown stems
Light purple flowers
with sweet fragrant
smell in late summer
Fleshy roots with
massive tap roots
Can grow up to 1 ft
per day in summer
months
Japanese & Bush honeysuckle
Lonicera japonica & Lonicera maackii
• Opposite oval leaves
• White to yellow fragrant
flowers bloom during the
summer
• New stems are reddish
brown
• Creates dense, tangled
masses
• May be confused with
trumpet honeysuckle which
has red flowers and redorange berries
Porcelainberry
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata
Chinese yam
Dioscorea oppositifolia
• Long climbing vines
with 2-3 in wide shiny
heart-shaped leaves
with arc shaped veins
• Pea to marble sized
bulbs like small
potatoes occurring at
leaf nodes in late
summer
Chinese Silvergrass
Miscanthus sinensis
• Tall, densely bunched
perennial grass
• Long, slender,
upright to arching
leaves with sharp tips,
rough margins and
silvery-white midribs
•Loosely plumed
terminal panicles in
Aug-Nov
Garlic Mustard
Alliaria petiolata
• Basal rosette, dark green,
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heart-shaped, scalloped
edged leaves
Small white 4 petaled
flowers in early spring
Young leaves have garlic
smell
Emits chemicals that kill
surrounding plants and
microbes
May easily be confused
with native wildflowers such
as toothworts, sweet cicely,
and early saxifrage
Coltsfoot
Tussilago farfara
• Basal, heart-shaped,
slightly toothed leaves
resemble a coltsfoot
• Whitish fuzz rubs off on
underside of leaf
• Bright yellow dandelion
looking flowers in early
spring
Japanese stiltgrass
Microstegium vimineum
• Flat, thin pale green
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leaves with a white stripe
down the center
1-3 ft tall and pulls up very
easily
Colonizes in dense
masses
May be confused with
native grasses
Partners in Invasive Exotic Plant Management
Goals
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Prevention & Restoration
Detection & Control
Education
Build and maintain powerful partnerships
Virginia Spiraea
Yellow Wood
Volunteer Identification & Inventory
“I don’t know if I want to keep doing this unless you
guys are actually going to do something with the data”
Jack Dalton, Volunteer
Manual & Chemical Control
Native
Plant
Restoration
What can you do to stop the spread?
• Develop a Management Plan for Your
Property
• Learn about invasive plants and how
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to identify them
Clean boots, equipment, tires, and
the dog before and after hiking
Landscape your lawn and gardens
with native plants
Know the source of your
fill dirt and gravel
Get involved in volunteer
monitoring and control
efforts
Online Resources
www.invasive.org
www.se-eppc.org
www.nps.gov/plants/alien
www.plants.usda.gov