[MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata

[Richard Gardner]

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





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

 Subject: [MAIPC] Lespedeza cuneata
 To: 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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