Celeste Ng: Massachusetts folks: I’ve been seeing a TON of this plant everywhere. This is black-swallowort, which is super invasive as well as poisonous to some animals and butterflies. It also grows super fast and crowds out other plants. Plant experts ask that you uproot and destroy it:

Massachusetts folks: I’ve been seeing a TON of this plant everywhere. This is black-swallowort, which is super invasive as well as poisonous to some animals and butterflies. It also grows super fast and crowds out other plants. Plant experts ask that you uproot and destroy it:

Invasive, Butterfly-Killing Weed Spreading In MA: Black Swallow-Wortpatch.com Communities in eastern Massachusetts are trying to raise awareness about the fast-spreading and toxic plant.

Black swallow-wort (apologies for misspelling in previous post) interferes with monarch butterfly reproduction and smothers other plants. If you have it in your yard, uproot it and dispose of it—don’t compost or put in yard waste; this will spread it further. More info: www.mass.gov/doc/black-sw...

It’s super aggressive—if it has nothing to climb, it will climb itself. You can see how it could strangle other plants (in fact one variety of it is called “dog-strangling vine” 😬)

A quick google suggests black swallow-wort is also a problem in Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, and probably more—check your state! Many cities are also asking people to help stop its spread:

Somerville Residents: Help Stop Black Swallow-Wort This Summerwww.somervillema.gov The City of Somerville is partnering with community groups to raise awareness about black swallow-wort (BSW), a very aggressive and invasive, non-native weed that can be found throughout Somerville. W...

Ugh we have this, bittersweet, burning bush, and garlic mustard on our property! The only thing missing (thankfully) is Japanese knotweed. Definitely have to fight back or they will take over.

I murdered a few dozen yards of it when I lived in Rhode Island. Now that I moved to Massachusetts it probably can't survive because of all the Bittersweet and poison ivy 🫠

oh this is ALL over JP

It is EVERYWHERE in Camberville too

At first I thought JP might be Japan but now I am not so sure?

Jamaica Plain, MA

Celeste out here making sure I don't look like a cool person who lives in Japan...

I mean I would’ve believed it! Now you’re a cool person who lives in Jamaica Plain, which seems much more pun-friendly.

Points for not pluralizing "Plain", you could pass for a local.

That makes waaaay more sense. I am obviously Not From There.

My yard (in MA) is a registered Monarch Waystation. I have a solemn duty to do battle against this scourge!

Neighborhood action is the best way to fight this sort of plant. We used to have a serious problem with "air potato vine" near my house. With cooperation between the city and neighbors we went from endemic to managed in a few years. The city park service was hugely important in the project.

it's all over Medford too

It was already there in the early 1990s--IDed it in Watertown Mass in 1992

🌱🌿

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