Contact: Robert Strasser, Hood College240-285-8199 | strasser@hood.edu ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 5, 2008) – Chestnut blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, is a very lethal organism. This parasitic fungus reached North America accidentally on chestnut trees shipped from Asia around the turn of the 20th century. It infects various oaks and some other hardwoods, but its principal victim is one of […]
Contact: Susan Rivers, MD DNR | srivers@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 1, 2008) – Myxobolus cerebralis is a microscopic parasite of trout species that causes a condition known as whirling disease. The parasite was introduced to the United States in the 1950’s from Europe. Since that time it has been found in over 23 states. The parasite was first […]
Contact: Kerrie Kyde, Maryland DNR | kerrie.kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 3, 2008) – This past summer, US Geological Survey scientists discovered the exotic plant water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) floating over submerged aquatic vegetation beds in Mattawoman Creek, a large Potomac River tributary in Charles County. They raised an alarm in the aquatic invasive species community, because […]
Contact: Faith Campbell, TNC | fcampbell@tnc.org ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 2, 2007) – Beginning in 2003, reports surfaced of dying redbay trees (Persea borbonia) in coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina; in 2005 the problem was also found in northeast Florida. Further study confirmed that the cause was a previously unknown fungus Raffaelea lauricola. The pathogen […]
Contact: Jay Kilian, Maryland DNR | Jkilian@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 1, 2007) – Rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus, was discovered lurking in Marsh Creek, a northern tributary to the Monocacy River in Frederick County, by biologists from the Maryland DNR Maryland Biological Stream Survey in June 2007. This is the first state record of this non-native invasive species […]
Contact: K. L. Kyde, Invasive Plant Specialist, Maryland DNRkerrie.kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 9, 2007) – The beautiful Asian ornamental grass genus Miscanthus, or Silvergrass, contains several species widely planted in gardens throughout the eastern U.S. One of the most frequently used is Miscanthus sinensis, Chinese silvergrass or Eulalia. Over 50 cultivated varieties, or cultivars, have been introduced […]
ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 1, 2007) – Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), also known as ailanthus, stink-tree, stinking or (incorrectly) Chinese sumac or shumac, and by other less than pleasant names, is Maryland’s worst invasive alien tree, and the Maryland Invasive Species Council’s September Invader of the Month. Introduced into the U.S. from China in 1784, it was […]
Contact: K. L. Kyde, Maryland Department of Natural Resources kerrie.kyde@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 6, 2007) – Two small populations of a Eurasian grass never previously found in the US were discovered in Patapsco State Park by sharp-eyed botanists in 1997. Smithsonian Institution experts confirmed its identity as an exotic species of a grass that is […]
Contact: Jonathan McKnight, Maryland Department of Natural Resources | 410-260-8539 ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 5, 2007) – A newly discovered invader from East Asia could make us all feel crabby, with its potential to do damage to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis), in the first documented sighting on the East coast of […]
Contact: Phil Pannill, Regional Watershed Forester, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Forest Service | ppannill@dnr.state.md.us ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 4, 2007) – While it sounds like a boon to the neighborhood microbrewery, Japanese Hops is more likely to be the bane of local land managers. This Asian vine, scientific name Humulus japonicus, is not good for beer making, […]