ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 1, 2007) – Honey bees, Apis mellifera, have a major role in the production of our food supply. In the U.S. they pollinate about 130 different crops with annual estimates of their pollination value alone, ranging from $5-14 billion; in Maryland, it has been valued at $40 million. Honey bees also produce honey, […]
ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 3, 2007) – Twenty million ash trees are dead and gone. Stately trees with high canopies covering miles of neighborhood streets are gone; the shaded avenues now denuded of green. In the forest, majestic giants have been brought down by a small green inconspicuous beetle. So inconspicuous, in fact, that researchers now […]
Contact: Jil Swearingen, National Park Service | Jil_Swearingen@nps.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 1, 2006) – As its name implies, Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is native to Japan. It was introduced to the U.S. and New England as an ornamental plant in 1875 in the form of seeds sent from Russia to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts. […]
Contact: Carole Bergmann, Forest Ecologist, Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, Montgomery County | carole.bergmann@mncppc-mc.org ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 15, 2006) – Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius), a cousin of Raspberries, is one of a number of species and hybrids in a diverse genus. The plant was introduced into the United States from Asia in 1890 as breeding stock […]
Contact: Kerrie L. Kyde, Habitat Ecologist/Invasive Plant Specialist, Maryland DNR | kerrie.kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 7, 2006) – In the tradition of enticing but scary summer horror movies, Maryland’s wetlands could soon be putting on a beautiful but insidious summer show, starring the European invader purple loosestrife. This moisture-loving plant, sporting long spikes of magenta blossoms, […]
Contact: Lane Heimer, MDA Weed Control | Lane_Heimer@att.net | 410-841-5871 ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 18, 2006) – Say “everything’s coming up roses” and it is generally a positive statement, unless you are talking about multiflora roses. Multiflora rose comes up everywhere and is so widespread and familiar that many do not realize it is a troublesome and costly […]
Contact: Mary Kay Malinoski, Maryland Cooperative Extension | mkmal@umd.edu | 800-342-2507 ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 17 2006) – The viburnum leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni, is a recent unintentionally introduced pest of viburnum in North America. It was first found in upstate New York in 1996. This pest has been on the move ever since munching its way through native […]
Contact: Jonathan McKnight, Maryland DNR | 410-260-8539 ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 21, 2006) – Given time, Shakespeare’s reference to the House Sparrow might have been its ticket to a new world, for in the 1800’s various American literary societies made an effort to introduce all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works to North America. But […]
Contact: Julie Thompson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 410-573-4517 ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 17, 2006) – A little green invader has established itself Maryland Coastal Bays and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. This invader is called the European green crab (Carcinus maenus), and has been chosen by the Maryland Invasive Species Council as the Invader […]
Contact: Dick Bean, Maryland Department of Agriculture | beanra@mda.state.md.us | 410.841.5920 ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 15, 2006) – In February, 2005, a horntail (a wood boring wasp) new to the U.S was discovered by Dr. Richard Hoebeke, in a September, 2004 forest survey trap sample from Fulton, N.Y. Identified as Sirex noctilio, it was not only new to […]