Environment DEC
From the November 2008 issue
Landowners Asked to Help Eradicate Invasive Vine Found in Cattaraugus County
The photo show the vine's fruits and characteristic arrowhead-shaped leaves. The stems are barbed. (Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, Univ. of Connecticut, Bugwood.org)
Foresters from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently identified an invasive plant, known as mile-a-minute weed (Persicaria perfoliata), growing in a neighborhood in Olean, Cattaraugus County. This vine is native to eastern Asia and grows quickly in orchards, yards, meadows and drainage ditches and along roadsides and powerlines. While mile-a-minute weed is known to exist in several mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania and in southeastern areas of New York State, this is the first known case of it appearing in the western New York area.
Mile-a-minute weed threatens native plant species by out-competing them for available resources such as sunlight. In addition to threatening plant diversity, the spread of this weed could also affect wildlife species by diminishing or eliminating native plants that they depend upon for food or habitat. This invasive is appropriately named because of its rapid growth and tendency to cover any object in its path, similar to wild grape and kudzu.
In an attempt to prevent the spread of mile-a-minute, DEC's Division of Lands and Forests will conduct a neighborhood survey this fall in the area where the vine was discovered. However, because there may be other unknown local sources of the plant and its seeds can be spread easily by birds, landowners are encouraged to help prevent this by removing the weed from their property. Mile-a-minute weed is easily recognizable by its triangular leaves, thorny, barbed stems and clusters of bright blue fruits resembling small grapes.Control methods include hand pulling (use heavy gloves to prevent injury from the plant's barbs) or repeated mowing or trimming.
Seeds of the mile-a-minute weed can survive in the soil for up to four years. For more information, please call DEC at 716-372-0645, or visit the website below.
Related Links
Invasive Plants of the Northeast (leaving DEC's site)
