[MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata

Sat Oct 1 04:55:13 PDT 2016

Following is how we saved important edge habitat in the 200 acre Swann Park in Charles County, MD from Sericea lespedeza. 

Marc Imlay, PhD, Chair, MAIPC Biological control working Group Conservation biologist, 

Park Ranger Office, Non-native Invasive Plant Control coordinator.  <mailto:Marc.Imlay at pgparks.com> Marc.Imlay at pgparks.com

 <tel:%28301%29%20442-5657> (301) 442-5657 cell  Natural and Historical Resources Division The  Maryland-National   Capital   Park  and Planning Commission

Method. Pull by the roots in very wet soil gently using 4 prong 

spading forks to first loosen the roots and raise the plant   

perceptively. Intermingled Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint in bloom

was seen rescued there as a great morale booster. Bag as

It re-roots when left on the ground.

Back pack spray larger mono-cultural patches with 2%   

glyphosate and avoid native plants. 

-----Original Message-----
From: MAIPC [mailto:maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org] On Behalf Of Richard Gardner
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 12:39 PM
To: Richard Gardner <rtgardner3 at yahoo.com>; Stephen Hiltner <stevehiltner at gmail.com>
Cc: maipc at lists.maipc.org
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata

Thanks! Anytime anyone wants a tour of this area, I walk in SGL 110 several times a week. I see everything mentioned in the article and more. Tracks and scat are meaningless indicators as there is still extensive undisturbed woodlands. (I saw bear scat in the middle of a road near SGL217 earlier this week - guess it means bears prefer roads as toilets so more roads need building because they make good bear toilets?) The apple and pear trees are in bad shape. Whereas, the native (non-hybridized) American chestnuts along the ridge are heavy in burrs.

The number of PA Game Commission introduced plants in this area is huge - Autumn olive and sawtooth oak among others. Then there are all 4 species of non-native honeysuckles, Oriental bittersweet, spotted knapweed and a hybrid knapweed, phragmites australis, possibly angelica, Ailanthus altissima, garlic mustard, Japanese stilt grass, Giant knotweed and many more plants to a total of at least 30 species. A lot appear to be hitchhikers on game commission vehicles and hunter vehicles and the result of extensive logging since none of these vehicles are ever washed. The one saving grace in this area is that the Appalachian Trail runs the length of SGL 106, 110, 217 and others. This gives us a 200 yard buffer each way (400 yards total) from logging and other actions by the game commission along the Appalachian Trail.

                                                                                                                                                  Richard Gardner

Our dog Sir Isaac Newton for president. Clearly, the people's choice!

--------------------------------------------

On Fri, 9/30/16, Stephen Hiltner < <mailto:stevehiltner at gmail.com> stevehiltner at gmail.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata

To: "Richard Gardner" < <mailto:rtgardner3 at yahoo.com> rtgardner3 at yahoo.com>

Cc: " <mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org> maipc at lists.maipc.org" < <mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org> maipc at lists.maipc.org>, "John Ambler" < <mailto:john.ambler at verizon.net> john.ambler at verizon.net>

Date: Friday, September 30, 2016, 11:57 AM

 Found your

email in my spam folder. Here's a link to a 2002 Morning  Call article describing the planting of Chinese bushclover  (sericea lespedeza) by the Pennsylvania Game  Commission. 

  <http://articles.mcall.com/2003-11-02/features/3508485_1_lands-management-game-lands-appalachian-trail> http://articles.mcall.com/2003-11-02/features/3508485_1_lands-management-game-lands-appalachian-trail

Dave

Mitchell, the commission's Lehigh Valley land manager,  said clover fields provide excellent forage for deer and  bear and attract hordes of insects important to wild turkeys  and other birds. Once planted, clover fields are also quite  easy to maintain, said Mitchell, explaining that they need  only be limed and fertilized once a year. Commission workers  limed and fertilized more than 6,200 acres of food plots  during fiscal 2002.

 During the same period, the commission mowed  more than 14,000 acres of game lands to maintain  high-quality grasses and legumes. One such field was clearly  marked on Game Lands No. 110 with a sign sericea lespedeza,  the scientific name for Chinese bush clover. This perennial  legume, native to eastern Asia, is resistant to drought and  insects and can grow in poor soil. It has high levels of  crude protein and is an important source of winter food for  deer, quail, small rodents and other animals. Its tall,  bushy stalks also provide important cover and nesting  habitat for species such as cottontail rabbits and  quail.

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at

7:02 AM, Richard Gardner < <mailto:rtgardner3 at yahoo.com> rtgardner3 at yahoo.com>

wrote:

L.

cuneata is apparently one of the gifts of the Pennsylvania  Game Commission. I have given up trying to pull it up as it  is almost everywhere I walk. I heard that it was planted as  "game food", but the shell of the seed is too hard  to digest. So, birds can have full crops while starving to  death. I am still trying to figure out why the PGC is  planting apples and pears in land it controls. Neither is a  native food.

 There is a large portfolio of disasters like this gifted to  us by the PGC in SGL 217 just "north" of the  Allentown shelter on the Appalachian Trail along the border  of Lehigh and Schuylkill counties. Among these disastrous  gifts are hybrid chestnuts (part of this year's

research) and sawtooth oak. It is an easy walk from the  parking lot at the top of Blue Mountain where Blue Mountain  House Road becomes Fort Franklin Road. (Last year I  obliterated a perilla infestation here by pulling up all the  plants I could find.) There is an upland bog in this area I  can send GPS points for if anyone is interested.

 After leaf drop I will be doing a vernal pond survey along  the Appalachian Trail and nearby trails from just south of  Rt. 183 (Bethel Twp.) to Northkill Road (Upper Bern Twp.) My  expectation is a minimum of 6 to 10 vernal ponds will be  found.

 I have begun collecting burrs from native Castanea dentata  (not the hybrid disasters) on trails near home. Suggestions  for how to plant these are welcome. I am also in the process  of doing a physiological comparison between native, hybrid  and non-native chestnuts.

 Richard Gardner

 Our dog Sir Isaac Newton for president. Clearly, the  people's choice!

 ------------------------------ --------------

 On Wed, 9/14/16, John Ambler < <mailto:john.ambler at verizon.net> john.ambler at verizon.net>

wrote:

  Subject: [MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata

  To:  <mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org> maipc at lists.maipc.org

  Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 2:22 PM

  In Lancaster County (PA)

  Central Park a series of native wildflower meadows were

  planted some years ago with seed collected from the

  county.  In one meadow apparently Lespedeza

  cuneata (Chinese bushclover) was included in the seed

  mix when seed was collectedalong the Susquehanna River,

  probably at Lock 12, near Holtwood Bridge on PA372.  One  meadow has a large patch

  (maybe 100x200 ft.?) of Lespedeza cuneata growing

  vigorously among other plants.  There is some spread  by

  mowing along the edge of the meadow, and it has been  found

  in two of the other meadows at some distance from the  main

  infestation.

   Ideally it would

  be controlled by cutting with brush blade in August  before

  seeds mature followed by treatment of the cut stem. 

  Brushing stem with glyphosate concentrate in early June  when

  the stems are easily found also is effective.  However,  volunteers are not

  allowed to use power tools or herbicide.  The park

  wishes to mow the meadows for woody plant control in  the

  fall, a time that works into their schedule and the  ground

  may not be too wet.  (Others recommend cutting at the

  beginning of April to minimize damage to overwintering

  butterflies.)

   Mowing will

  rapidly spread the Lespedeza cuneata, which will

  seriously degrade the meadows.  Also it will favor

  wider spread, e.g., downstream via the nearby Mill Creek  (a

  small river).

   Could anyone

  with experience with Lespedeza cuneata comment on its

  invasiveness?  I see from EDDMapS that there are a lot

  of reports of it in New Jersey, so someone must be  worried

  about it there.

   John

  AmblerLancaster,

  PA

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