Resources on Invasive Plants

invasives in your yard

It’s time to remove these invasives from your yard!

Invasive plants card, side 2: garlic mustard, lesser celandine, Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose, bush honeysuckle, wineberry

Invasive Plants of Sligo Creek by Type

Shrubs

Click on the common name for a photo. The “More Info” links are being updated.

Common Name Scientific Name Notes
Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii More Info
Bamboo Phyllostachys aureosulcata £ ♠ Several varieties. Yellow groove Phyllostachys aureosulcata is the most common. More Info
Bush Honeysuckle (Amur) Lonicera maackii
Japanese Holly Ilex crenata £
Japanese Knotweed Polygonum cuspidatum Changed to Fallopia japonica, a name not yet widely used.
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora
Privet Ligustrum spp. £ ♠ Other privet species also; none are native. More Info
Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellata £
Rose of Sharon Hibiscus syriacus
Wineberry Rubus phoenicolasius A native raspberry, unsimilar in appearance, occurs in Sligo.

£ The plant is found in only a few areas, though it might be numerous there.
♠ Indicates the plant was listed by Dorothy Salisbury as present in Sligo in 1970, although she noted most as rare or infrequent. See the Salisbury List.

Vines

Click on the common name for a photo. The “More Info” links are being updated.

Common Name Scientific Name Notes
Asian bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus No native bittersweet is known to exist. More Info
Asian Clematis Clematis paniculata Native clematis also exists; see the Native Plant Inventory
English Ivy Hedera helix ♠ On ground and also in trees.
Japanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica ♠ A native honeysuckle also exists; see the Native Plant Inventory.
Kudzu Pueraria lobata ♠ in about six sites. 
Mile-a-Minute Polygonum perfoliatum  
Porcelainberry Ampelopsis brevipedunculata Sligo has three species of similar-looking native Grape.
Wintercreeper Creeping Euonymus Euonymus fortunei
Wisteria Wisteria sinensis  
Akebia Akebia quinata  
Japanese Hop Humulus japonicus Found with mile-a-minute, west side of soccer field on north side of Dennis. Escape from cultivation. More Info

♠ Indicates the plant was listed by Dorothy Salisbury as present in Sligo in 1970, although she noted most as rare or infrequent. See the Salisbury List.

Native vines include Poison Ivy, Grape, Greenbrier, and Virginia Creeper. We are saving these plants so as not to interfere with natural plant relationships. Please do not cut any vine unless you are a certified Weed Warrior and have approval to remove them!

Herbs and Ground Covers

Click on the common name for a photo. Look on invasives.org.

Name Scientific Name Notes
Bull thistle Cirsium vulgare More Info
Canada thistle Cirsium arvense More Info
Beefsteak Plant Perilla frutescens £ ♠
Garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata
Lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria  
Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris ♠ 
Periwinkle Vinca minor
Stilt grass Microstegium vimineum  
Bishop’s Weed Goutweed Aegopodium podagraria  
Gill-over-the-ground Glechoma hederacea ♠ ♣ 
Indian Strawberry Duchesnea indica ♠ ♣
Yellow Archangel or Golden Dead Nettle Lamium galeobdolon More Info Known only in section 6

Garden Bulbs – In some places crocus, snowdrops,and Star-of-Bethlehem are appearing frequently in grass and in the woods. Liriope and day lilies are also present occasionally, but not enough to be considered invasive.

£ The plant is found in only a few areas, though it might be numerous there.
♠ Indicates the plant was listed by Dorothy Salisbury as present in Sligo in 1970, although she noted most as rare or infrequent. See the Salisbury List.
♣ Spreading from sun to lightly shaded woods. We are not attempting to rid the park of it.

Aquatic Plants

Click on the common name for a photo. The “More Info” links are being updated.

Common Name Scientific Name Notes
Water Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes *
Water Lettuce Pistia stratioites ♣ 
Water Primrose Jussiaea sp. £

* About 200 plants found and removed by resident Dominic Quattrocchi from the upper pond at Forest Glen, July 2006.
♣ About 10 plants found and removed by resident Dominic Quattrocchi from the upper pond at Forest Glen, July 2006.
£ Discovered in 2005 in six stormwater ponds. Permanent removal not attempted.

Trees

Click on the common name for a photo. The “More Info” links are being updated.

Common Name Scientific Name Notes
Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima   ♠ Please report this tree to the RIP Coordinator.
Flowering Cherry Prunus avium   Section 6. Several hybrids present.
Mimosa Albizia julibrissin
Norway Maple Acer plantanoides
Princess Tree Paulownia tomentosa ♠ £
White Mulberry Morus alba ♠ Sligo has a native Red Mulberry, with much larger leaves.
Yellow Buckeye Aesculus flava  
Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila  
 

£ The plant is found in only a few areas, though it might be numerous there.
♠ Indicates the plant was listed by Dorothy Salisbury as present in Sligo in 1970, although she noted most as rare or infrequent. See the Salisbury List.

Scientific names based mainly on websites and Brown and Brown’s Woody Plants of Maryland, 1972. Compiled by Sally Gagne, April 2004; updated July 2005.