[MPWG] Microstegium in West Virginia 05 04

[ForestRuss at aol.com]

M 

 

 

The above photos were taken at Crummies Creek Tree Farm in Calhoun County 
West Virginia in early May 2004.  The first two photos are of Japanese stiltgrass 
seedlings from seed produced during the 2003 season that are growing onto a 
rotted log.  The plants can be seen on the log and the brown strands are the 
remains of last years' plants.....this is the very beginning of an invasion deep 
in the woods.

The photo with the dime was taken 5 days after the stiltgrass emerged.  The 
stiltgrass area in the dime photo was infested for the first time in 2003....In 
mid winter 2004, a grass fire went through the area when the thatch from 2003 
was burned....this pring, in this burned area, there was an average 
germination of 125 Microstegium plants per square inch.

Try to grow ginseng, Goldenseal or even trees in the face of such an invasion!

This invasion of central WV by Japanese stiltgrass is out of control and has 
yet to be "officially" identified as a major threat to West Virginia's forests 
and will likely manifest itself and become evident on several hundred 
thousand acres of woodland in the 2004 growing season.

Russ Richardson 
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