In this blog we discuss 4 invasive plant species that are actively threatening local flora and fauna in WNC. We also discuss plant identification, treatment options, and native alternatives.

At Sugar Hollow Solar our mission is to create a great business that helps heal the world. While we strive to accomplish this goal every day through renewable energy, we also know that healing the world is a deeply complex and multifaceted goal. Beyond clean energy, there are a plethora of ways to help create a brighter future for our one and only home. That’s why we’ve partnered with our friends at MountainTrue.

As part of that partnership we wanted to help spread MountainTrue’s incredibly helpful resources surrounding invasive plant species, identification, removal, and restoration to help with the healing process. Why? Because ecological restoration is another key to helping create a better, healthier, future.

1. Oriental Bittersweet also known as Celastrus orbiculatus

Most commonly known simply as bittersweet around these parts, this climbing woody stemmed plant will be instantly familiar to any who have spent time out on the trails in WNC. The fruit, a bright red color, are often used in autumn wreath making, which furthers their spread. You can easily identify bittersweet by its distinguishable dark circles on its bark, which are formed by its lenticels.

Bittersweet poses a risk due to several factors:

It is incredibly fast growing and very competitive, often beating many other plants to leaf out.
When it matures and begins to climb, bittersweet can easily strangle all sizes of trees as it wraps around them cutting off their circulatory system. This can cause canopy collapse.
Bittersweet can produce a large deal of seeds year over year, leading to extensive seed reserves that can become established in the soil.
As an invasive plant species bittersweet has very few if any natural control mechanisms in our region.

How do you remove it?

The best means of removing bittersweet is to clip it as close to the ground as possible and collect the severed vine, as it will re-sprout if left in soil. If you’re clipping a vine that is wrapped around a tree, cut the base of the vine as close to the ground as possible, then unwind the vine from the tree like a reverse maypole.

What local plants can you replace bittersweet with?

climbing Hydrangea (Decumaria barbara)

Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

Passion Vine (Passiflora incarnata)

2. Multiflora Rose, also known as Rosa Multiflora

From flower gardens, and roadside plantings to large thickets along trails and scattered through the mountains, you have encountered Multiflora Rose, and may be shocked to learn that it is an invasive plant.

How do you identify Multiflora Rose?

Multiflora Rose is a thorny shrub that can also climb to great heights provided the right circumstance. Identifying Multiflora Rose can be challenging as it shares some features with local blackberry bushes. First and foremost are the flowers, showy and fragrant in large clusters; white to pink, each about one inch across and stalked. Next are the thorns, the large thorns run along the arched branches and face backwards, a nasty surprise that can catch and hold you. The leaves are sharply serrated and up to an inch long. The final identifying factor that is easy to find are fringe stipules, these eyelash-like protrusions can be found at the base of stems and branches.

How do you remove it?

The best way to remove Multiflora Rose is to carefully locate the center of the branches, then taking garden shears or loppers for larger and tougher plants and cutting them as close to the ground as possible. While a chemical herbicide treatment is recommended to be applied to the freshly cut stump, we encourage you to carefully read up on any chemicals and to contact MountainTrue about proper mixing ratio, safe application, and storage/disposal of these chemicals.

What can you replace Multiflora Rose with?

The Carolina Rose is a wonderful substitute if you’re looking for a rose bush replacement.

3. Japanese Honeysuckle AKA Lonicera Japonica

The third invasive plant might bring you back to warm summer nights. Capable of growing up to 80 feet long, this climbing vine can be found on neighborhood fences, abandoned lots, along trails, and deep in forests. What are we talking about you may ask? The deceptively sweet Japanese Honeysuckle AKA Lonicera Japonica.

Like many invasive plant species, you may be surprised to learn that it’s not native to our neck of the woods here in WNC. As with many plants on the invasive species lists for our region, Japanese Honeysuckle was brought to the United States as an ornamental plant.

How to identify Japanese Honeysuckle;

When flowering, Japanese Honeysuckle is easily identifiable due to its sweet vanilla fragrance wafting from white or yellow trumpet like flowers. The oval leaves grow opposite one another on the vine. Thin, delicate, vines that grow quickly and have a paper-like appearance in winter.

How Japanese Honeysuckle can cause harm:

Aggressive Growth: Japanese honeysuckle can grow rapidly and spread quickly, outcompeting native plant species for sunlight, water, and nutrients. This aggressive growth can lead to the displacement of native vegetation, altering ecosystems and reducing biodiversity.
Disruption of Habitats: Japanese honeysuckle can disrupt natural habitats such as forests, woodlands, and riparian areas by forming dense mats of vegetation. These mats can alter the structure of ecosystems, making them less suitable for native wildlife and reducing habitat quality.
Altered Ecological Processes: The invasion of Japanese honeysuckle can disrupt ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and pollination, which are vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems. This can have far-reaching consequences for the overall functioning of natural systems.

Native Alternatives:

Southern Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla sessilifolia)

Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

How you treat Japanese Honeysuckle:

The best way to treat Japanese Honeysuckle is to use a foliar spray with a specific formulation of herbicides. While a chemical herbicide treatment is recommended, we encourage you to carefully read up on any chemicals and to contact MountainTrue about proper mixing ratio, safe application, and storage/disposal of these chemicals.

For our fourth and final invasive species, we had to narrow down our choice for what to cover. There were so many contenders, we wanted to give an invasive mention to some of the runners up: Privet, English Ivy, Tree of Heaven, Princess Tree, Chinese Silvergrass, Burning Bush, Kudzu, and so many more. But if you head over to MountainTrue’s page about invasive species you’ll learn what to look out for when gardening and buying plants.

4. Bradford Pear also known as the Pyrus Calleryana

The final invasive plant species we'll be talking about is an invasive plant that’s been pear-sisting on taking over. While its sight may be sweet, it’s quite the concern. That’s right, we’re talking about the Bradford Pear also known as the Pyrus calleryana.

The Bradford Pear, also called a Callery Pear, is native to portions of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In the 1950s, this promising tree was introduced into the landscape in the United States. They’re noted for having incredibly poor branch strength leading to them “shedding” branches regularly. Originally thought to be unable to reproduce due to cultivation methods, recent findings suggest that is no longer the case due to cross pollination, causing an alarming fast spread through our landscape. Once they produce outside of initial planting, they can produce long thick thorns capable of popping car tires. They’ve become such a problem some counties and states offer bounties for their proper treatment.

How to Identify a Bradford Pear:

They are some of the first trees to leaf out and bloom, their tightly packed buds burst into white flower displays early in spring, with a notable unpleasant odor. They have broad, shiny, dark green, leathery leaves with small-toothed edges. The overall tree shape is pyramidal, columnar, or egg-shaped giving it a distinct visual profile.

Dangers of Bradford Pears:

Birds and other animals eat the fertile fruits and distribute the seeds widely. A single tree can spread quickly, forming dense thickets.
Rapid spread happens when many different self-sterile forms are planted close by (as in towns) and can cross-pollinate and produce fertile fruits.
When the Bradford Pears grow large, they develop "weak joints" where the limbs join the trunk, and the tree is easily split or knocked over by wind.
After the fallen tree is removed, vigorous sprouts appear at the stump. These sprouts will grow into the wild, less-attractive, thorny, invasive form of the tree.

Native Alternatives:

Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)

As we endeavor to help the world heal, whether helping our communities transition to clean energy or helping spread information about invasive species, at Sugar Hollow Solar we’re committed to our founding mission of creating a great business that helps heal the world.

To learn more about invasive plant identification, treatment, and what local alternatives you can choose visit the MountainTrue Smart Plant Buyer Guide or Their Treatment Guide.