Native and Invasive Plants at TPS

Staghorn Sumac

Common Name: Staghorn Sumac

Scientific Name: Rhus hirta

Location at TPS:  edge of the fields

Description: The trunk and branch are fuzzy and there are big red flowers at the top. 

Habitat: edges of fields and forests

Range: Staghorn Sumac is found throughout the eastern half 

of the United States.

Interesting facts: Ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, wild turkey, and about 300 species of songbirds include sumac fruit in their diets.  

Sweet Fern

Common Name: Sweet Fern

Scientific Name: Comptonia peregrina 

Location at TPS: TBD

Description: A small hill-shaped shrub, 2-4 ft. tall.  It has long, narrow, olive-green leaves. 

Habitat: dry, open woods and roadsides

Range: Sweet fern is found in the eastern half of the United States.

Interesting Facts:  The grey hairstreak butterfly feeds only on sweetfern in the northern areas of its habitat range. 

Eastern Hemlock

Common Name: Eastern Hemlock

Scientific Name: Tsuga candensis

Location at TPS: Laurel Trail, Connector Trail, most trails and forested areas

Description: An evergreen tree with a wide conical shape, it has needles and cones less than an inch long. It can grow 50 to 70 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

Habitat: moist, well-drained soil in sunny to shady areas such as lake shores, valleys, and hilly forests

Range: Eastern Hemlock is found in the eastern half of the United States, as well as Utah, South Dakota, and Kansas.

Interesting Facts:  Eastern hemlock is a keystone species. 90 bird species including owls along with 50 mammal species including deer and hares use hemlock for food,  shelter, and nesting.

Jewelweed

Common Name:  Jewelweed

Scientific Name:  Impatiens capensis

Location at TPS: along the edge of the playground 

Description: a single stalk growing 2 to 5 feet tall, with bright green scallop-edged leaves about 2-3 inches long; and a flower that is yellow, orange, and red

Habitat:  edges of marshes, bogs, or other moist and partly shady areas

Range:  most of the US except the southwest and California

Interesting Facts:  birds including hummingbirds and insects such as bees and butterflies rely on jewelweed for food, and deer eat the leaves

Common Milkweed

Common Name:  Common Milkweed

Scientific Name: Aclepias syriaca

Location at TPS: Elsie's Garden and the Bengrazzi Courtyard, along the edges of the playground and fields, and at the edges of the building

Description: A hairy-stemmed flowering plant that grows up to 6 feet tall, the milkweed plant has thick glossy leaves up to 8 inches long. The flowers are clusters of 20 to 130 individual flowers colored pink to pinkish-purple. The fruit is a teardrop shaped pod about 4 inches long that contains 50-100 seeds with a white, fluffy silk attached. 

Habitat: edges of roads or dry, sunny places

Range: eastern and central US except Florida

Interesting Facts:  The common milkweed has a three-year growth cycle, and is the food plant for over 450 insects. It is the only food for the caterpillar stage of the monarch butterfly.

  Multiflora Rose                                        

Common Name: Multiflora Rose

Scientific Name: Rosa Multiflora

Location at TPS: on the meadow trail and at the edge of the playground

Description: Multi stemmed shrubs can reach up to 8-13 feet tall and 9-13 feet wide. 

Leaves 4-6 inches long with toothed edges.   Flowers are white to slightly pink, blooming from mid to late spring. 

Habitat:  forest edges, woodlands, oak, savannah, prairies, fields, pastures, and roadsides

Ecological Threat:  It forms dense thickets that are painful to walk through and reduces the native plant population. 

Interesting Fact: Multiflora rose was brought to the US from Japan in 1866 for rootstock for ornamental roses. 

Garlic Mustard

Common Name: Garlic Mustard

Scientific Name: Alliaria petiolata

Location at TPS: fields, alongside field pathways and the sides of the building

Description:  A biennial herb, it has a 2-year life cycle. In the first year it is low to the ground with many scallop-edges heart-shaped leaves. In the second year it grows 3 to 6 feet tall and has small white 4-petaled flowers and long thin seed pods. 

Habitat: garlic mustard grows in most locations regardless of soil type

Ecological Threat:  It inhibits the growth of other plants by releasing a chemical into the soil through its roots. It also grows earlier in the spring than many other plants and takes up space and access to sunlight and nutrients. It is inedible for local wildlife and insects, so it disrupts the local food chain.

Interesting Fact: It is native to Europe and Asia and was brought to the US in the 1860s as a food plant.

 Oriental Bittersweet

Common Name: Oriental Bittersweet

Scientific Name:  Celastrus orbitulatus

Location at TPS: TBD

Description: A deciduous woody gray to brown vine up to 60 feet long, it has glossy rounded leaves with toothed edges about 2-5 inches long, small green and white flowers less than a half inch wide, and pea-sized fruits that have a yellow skin split open to a red center. 

Habitat: fields, field edges, and forests

Ecological Threat: Oriental bittersweet grows quickly and can both block sunlight that plants need for photosynthesis and smother other plants, including trees, due to the weight of the vines.

Interesting Fact: It is native to China and was introduced to the US in the 1860s as an ornamental vine.

Amur Honeysuckle

Common Name: Amur Honeysuckle

Scientific Name: Lonicera maacki

Location at TPS: TBD

Description:  Amur honeysuckle is a leggy shrub growing up to 15 feet tall, with arched branches. It has narrow elliptical leaves about 3 inches long with a narrow point on the end. The 1 inch tubular white flowers are fragrant. It produces paired red berries in the fall.

Habitat: bush honeysuckle can grow in most environments

Ecological Threat: Bush honeysuckle blocks sunlight from other plants on the forest floor, and competes with native plants for pollinators.

Interesting Fact: Native to Eastern Asia, it was brought to the US in the mid- to late- 1800s for erosion control and as an ornamental plant. 

Japanese Barberry

Common Name: Japanese Barberry

Scientific Name: Berberis thunbergii

Location at TPS: TBD

Description: Japanese Barberry is a dense deciduous shrub, growing 2 to 8 feet high with  oval-shaped leaves ½ to 1½ inches long. The leaf color can range from green to red to dark purple, and its fruit is bright red pea-sized berries. 

Habitat: it can tolerated most environments and is very adaptable 

Ecological Threat:   It crowds out native plants and it can be an ideal environment for black-legged ticks which may the pathogen that causes Lyme disease. 

Interesting Fact:  Native to Japan, it was introduced the the US as an ornamental plant in 1875.