Invasive Plants or Trees

Back issues of the Branching Out newsletter can be found on this page.

Read our features Woodland Wildlife Spotlight, Invasives in Your Woodland, and the Brain Tickler challenge. There's also news about the state Tree Farmer of the Year and much more.

Twenty-five years of "Branching Out" - read how it all started. Plus, read our "Woodland Wildlife Spotlight" and "Invasives in Your Woodland," and take the Brain Tickler challenge. This and much more inside this issue.

This issue features Invasives in Your Woodlands, the Woodland Wildlife Spotlight, the Brain Tickler, and woodland stewardship news from around the region.

This issue has a year in review, the Woodland Wildlife Spotlight, Invasives in Your Woodland, the Brain Tickler challenge, how native trees and shrubs can benefit wildlife, and more.

Since its debut as a regular Branching Out feature in 2016, "Invasives in Your Woodland" has profiled a wide variety of invasive plant species that threated the health of Maryland's ecosystems.

In this issue, we look at plumeless thistle, also known as "spiny plumeless thistle." Its presence in Maryland might be more widespread than some reports suggest.

Porcelain-berry is a deciduous, climbing, woody vine introduced from northeast Asia in the 1870s. It became popular for its tolerance of adverse conditions and its ability to provide ground cover. However, it is an aggressive plant that invades damp, shady areas such as streambanks, forest edges, pond margins, and disturbed areas, and forms dense mats that crowds out native vegetation.

Lesser celandine can be an ecological threat. It was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant in the late 1800s. Although its sale was banned in Maryland in 2017, it may still be available for sale in other states.