Exotic invasive plants new to, near, or just beginning to invade, the southern Appalachians are especially important to detect early. Please contact the SAMAB Office if you see these.
This is a herbaceous wetland perennial that varies in height growing up to 6 feet tall with many multiple stems. It is noted for its light purple to lavender to magenta flower heads that form of long spikes. The plant has a square, woody stem with leaves arranged opposite or in whorls. Leaves are lance-shaped with a rounded or heart-shaped base and may have a downy surface. Flowers have 5 to 7 petals. The species has not yet been found in the wild in the Southern Appalachians, but has been spotted and eliminated in landscape plantings. The plant is found throughout most of North America, with the greatest threat coming from the Northeast and through landscape plantings. The threat to wetlands is very severe. (Photograph: Norman E. Rees. USDA ARS. Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States CD-ROM. For additional information and pictures, see http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/lysa1.htm; http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/loosestrife.html; and http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3047)
This is an aggressive grass, forming dense stands 1 to 5 feet tall. Leaves are 1 to 4 feet long and ½ to 1 inch wide and usually yellowish-green. Leaves have an off-center mid-rib that may be white on the upper surface. The grass has aggressively invaded Georgia and Alabama and is likely approaching the southern Appalachians from the south and west but has not yet been spotted in the Appalachians. Resembles johnsongrass, purpletop, and silver plumegrass, but none have off-center mid-rib. A severe threat is posed to a wide variety of sites including open woodlands and disturbed sites. This grass also poses a severe fire hazard. (Photograph: G. Keith Douce. The University of Georgia. Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States CD-ROM. For additional information and pictures, see http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/imcy1.htm and http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=2433)
A frequently planted ornamental bunchgrass, this grass achieves heights of 5 to 10 feet. Leaves are long, narrow, and arching with an upper white mid-vein. Many loosely plumed, slightly arching seed heads form a silvery, persistent top, well above the leaves. This grass is already in the Southern Appalachians, is proving highly aggressive in many areas, and is spread by wind, sticking to tires and shoes, and being planted as an ornamental. Different varieties of varied aggressiveness may be involved. A severe threat is posed to a wide variety of sites, especially fields, balds, and open woodlands. (Photograph: Britt Slattery. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States CD-ROM. For additional information and pictures, see http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/MISI.html; http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3052; and http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=0016162)
This plant looks and acts very much like wild grape (it's in the same family), but fruits are round, about the size of a pea, and vary in color from purple to blue to pink to white often together. Leaves are often more deeply lobed in contrast to wild grape species. The vine has been in the region for years based on 8” diameter vines found in Sevier County, Tennessee. Vines also found in Knoxville and Asheville. An invasive stage is apparently just beginning. (Photographer: Jil M. Swearingen. USDI National Park Service. Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States CD-ROM. For additional information and pictures, see http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/ambr1.htm; http://www.wmuma.com/caretaker/alienplants/porcelainberrySS31.html; and http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3007)
A hardy, deciduous, thorny shrub or tree with leaves 1.5 to 4 inches long and 0.4 to 1.2 inches wide and of gray-green color with heavy silvery scales beneath. Fruits resemble olives in shape, but are about 1.2 inches long, often yellow to light green, sometimes tinted red, and hard. This species is found to the west and north of the Southern Appalachians and is sometimes planted as an ornamental. (Photographer: Paul Wray, Iowa State University. Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States CD-ROM. For additional information and pictures, see http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3022)