[APWG] Fw: [FICMNEW] FW: 'Beach kudzu' threaten S.C. dunes, plants

[Jil_Swearingen at nps.gov]

Hi,

Please see article posted below. It's unfortunate that basic invasive
species information is still not available or not being used by government
agencies who should know better by now.

The species of Vitex is not specified but according to the Alien Plant
Working Group's "WeedUS" database, the following Vitex species have been
reported to be invasive in the eastern U.S.:

Vitex agnus-castus (lilac chaste-tree) - reported as invasive in Florida,
Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and New York.
References: Sarah Reichard and Faith Campbell

Vitex trifolia (simpleleaf chaste-tree) - reported as invasive in Florida.
References: Sarah Reichard and John Randall

Thank you,

Jil

JIL M SWEARINGEN
Regional IPM Coordinator

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Capital Region
Center for Urban Ecology
4598 MacArthur Blvd., NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone/ 202-342-1443, ex. 218
Fax/ 202-282-1031
Jil_Swearingen at nps.gov

WEEDS GONE WILD Web Page
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien



----- Forwarded by Jil Swearingen/NCR/NPS on 10/07/2004 09:47 AM -----

'Beach kudzu' threatens S.C. dunes, plants

By JACOB JORDAN
The Associated Press  10/5/2004, 5:31 a.m. PT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A seemingly harmless plant brought to South
Carolina's coast in the 1990s to help control erosion has turned mean,
overtaking dunes, squeezing out other plants and garnering a a notorious
nickname: beach kudzu.

"At first it was doing a good job, then we started noticing it was choking
out the native plants," said Betsy Brabson, who has watched the plant take
over sea oats and beach grass around her home near the pristine,
undeveloped coast in Georgetown County.

Originally planted on Debordieu Beach in the early 1990s after Hurricane
Hugo damaged the dunes in 1989, beach vitex spreads by seeds that are
washed in the tides. Although the heaviest stretches grow along the central
South Carolina coast, it has also plagued parts of Alabama's coast and
North Carolina's Figure Eight Island.

Brabson, who heads the outh Carolina Beach Vitex Task Force, said if
nothing is done to control the plant, picturesque beach dunes could become
bushy eyesores.

"When vitex is compared to kudzu, everybody knows the rest of the story,"
Brabson said.

Few scientific studies have been done in the United States on vitex, which
is from the Pacific Rim. But anecdotal evidence shows similarities to
kudzu, a plant from Japan that Southern farmers began using in the 1930s to
prevent
soil erosion.

Every Southerner knows how that story ends - just drive along the highways
and witness the monstrous vines covering trees, road signs and  billboards.

Vitex, too, was thought to be a colorful way to control beach erosion when
brought to the United States in 1985, but it's unclear if it's even good
for that.

"It will trap sand because of the aboveground foliage, but it will not hold
sand," said Randy Westbrooks of  the U.S. Geological Survey.

Clemson University researchers are looking into the plant's effect on dune
stability, and they have also started herbicide testing at a private
residence to see what, if anything, can control the vines.

Vitex, like kudzu, has fragrant, violet-colored flowers. The leaves are one
to two inches long, and the small, round fruit appears purple to black when
ripe.

The seeds are spread by waves that break off  small parts of the
fruit-laden runners and taking them down the coast, where they root
easily.

With its long, winding runners that slide across and hug the sand, beach
vitex roots about every two and a half inches.  The roots shoot down as
much as six feet and overtake the native plants.

"Beach vitex doesn't want any competition," Brabson said.

Brabson also is worried about the effect on sea turtle nesting. She has
heard that the turtles are crawling to the dunes, bumping into the vitex
and returning to the water without laying any eggs.

"As I walk down the beach and I see what these dunes look like that are
covered with this, I just envision 10, 20 years from now the whole dune
system looking like that, and that would be such a loss for this state,"
she said. "I guess that's what keeps me going."