Note the 10 silent invaders at this web site

The Greener Roadsides fall 2005 publication of the Federal Highway Administration, Office of Planning, Environment and Realty is available electronically at their website-

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/greenerroadsides/fall05.htm

Thought this might interest someone.

wow! those 10 silent invaders are all sold in most mail order catalogues ( I was just looking at Spring Hill nursery's, even though I will never order from them again). My neighborhood is full of fountain grass, Miscanthus sinensi and pampas grass too. I have seen Miscanthus sinensi growing along a guard rail on a divided highway. I'll stick with my little bluestem and Indian grass...

It's funny, you would think that a government publication could get the names of the invasive plants correct? The correct Latin name of Chinese Silver grass is Miscanthus sinensis, not Miscanthus sinensi. There were a few spelling errors in the text, which surprised me.

May not have had a plant geek at the typewriter! I sent a note off to this website, which had similar difficulty.

http://www.se-eppc.org/weeds.cfm

Must be too much trouble to hit spell check. Kids these days...

spell check doesn't work for latin names...
I do see many typos (or just plain mistakes) on a great deal of website and publications.
The grass that I see most around here is referred to as maiden grass (that's what the locals call it). I think it is M. sinensis (at least it looks like the pic on the above referenced website).
PS I just looked at the common names on the latter link... It looks like the keyboard is missing a space bar!

This message was edited Mar 5, 2006 5:12 PM

This message was edited Mar 5, 2006 5:25 PM

My wetland biologist friends (plural, I live near an environmental school) have let me know that there are no safe grasses. Because of their pollination and their seed dispersal methods they cannot ever be contained. Further they will mix their genetics (either from cross breeding outright or through splicing that is done by plant viruses creating, in essence, new plants with mixes of genetics) with any/all native plant species (There is no longer any of the ancient wild maize from Mexico in existence that does not have in its genome quite a few genetically engineered components found in new commercial varieties).

It's a shame because most gardeners feel they have to include at least some ornamental grass, and yeah, it is a unique texture in the garden. But, I ripped all of mine out anyway. There are after all plenty of plants to choose from.

We have millions of what I think is the Canary Reed grass here. Only we call it cheat weed because it looks a lot like wheat. We also have the introduced fescue which is nearly impossible to kill. I have fought both for a decade and still do not have even a smigin of control because it is so widespread.

Yeah. Tall fescue is Festuca arundinacea, not L.arundinacea; plants in the genus Lolium are the ryegrasses(annual & perennial types)
Cheat is an introduced bromegrass species, but it's not Reed Canary grass.

Of course, 'common' names are frequently misapplied &/or differ from one area to another.
For examples, depending upon where you are, 'tulip tree' may be used by some to indicate Magnolia x soulangeana, whereas in other areas, it's taken to mean Liriodendron tulipifera; Mockorange, to most folks, means flowering woody shrubs which are members of the genus Philadelphus, but in some areas, mock orange means Maclura pomifera - Osage Orange/bois d'arc/bodock/bodark.

The fescue I'm referring to is KY 31 I believe. It was sold to farmers in the late 50s to mid 60s as the ultimate pasture grass as it is resistant to drought and soggy conditions as well, doesn't winter kill, can hardly be over grazed, etc.. What they did not know at the time is that it sometimes develops nematodes on some of the roots which produce ergotomine. This causes blood vessels in the extremities of some animals to constrict dangerously, sometimes to the point of the foot, tail, ears, etc. being lost due to lack of blood supply. It is nearly impervious to herbicides, mulches, fire, etc. It does make for a good hardy pasture grass and good hay if it doesn't develop the nematodes and in the yard it is ok if you never let it get tall, go to seed or get clumpy. Then it will nearly stop an 18 HP mower. It will invade flower and garden beds and just take over if you aren't careful. There are millions of acres of this grass in the midwest. Some farmers love it, others hate it passionately.