Contributor: Matthew A. Travis, State Plant Health Director MD/DC, USDA APHIS Every day, goods enter our country from all over the world. With these goods come non-native species that could be the next big invader. Few of us see the behind-the-scenes actions taken by agencies such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop these […]
Contributors: Shelley Brunelle | MDOT State Highway Administration, Office of Environmental Design, Consultant for Landscape Operations DivisionKimberly Rice | Maryland Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection & Weed Management Program Manager | DontBug.MD@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 1, 2018) – Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula is an invasive plant-hopping insect that feeds on a wide variety of tree […]
Contact: Francis Smith, Maryland Department of Natural Resources- Forest Service | francis.smith@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS MD (August 1, 2018) – Prolific seed production. Rapid re-sprouting. Highly adaptable. Three traits of a very successful plant, and also what makes autumn olive an ecological nightmare. As summer winds down and fall creeps in, the red berries of this invasive shrub will […]
Contact: Jay Kilian, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Resource Assessment Service | 410-260-8617 ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 1, 2018) Summer is here and adventures await you on Chesapeake Bay and in Maryland’s beautiful streams, rivers, and lakes. As you get out your waders, boats and fishing gear, keep in mind that your actions, or inaction, can […]
ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 1, 2018) – Eurasian water chestnut (Trapa natans) has been present in the United States since the latter half of the 19th century and is a well-known invasive species. Once water chestnut shows up in a water body, it can quickly spread to cover large areas and, if allowed to reproduce, can […]
Contact: Marc Imlay, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission | ialm@erols.com ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 1, 2018) – Many shrubs first introduced as desirable landscape species have been found to take over the understory of woodlands and greatly impact native forest regeneration. The invasive properties of both Japanese barberry (Berberis thumbergii) and Bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) have […]
Contact: Bud Reaves, Anne Arundel County | ipreav00@aacounty.org ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 3, 2018) – Every year in late March and early April, cherry trees burst forth into bloom in Maryland. Some of the first to bloom in the spring, cherries are among the showiest flowers in the forest. However, most of the cherry trees that get […]
Contact – Jonathan McNight, Maryland, DNR – Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service | jonathan.mcknight@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 1, 2018) – In the last week of January 2018, one of a pair of free-ranging pigs (Sus scrofa) attacked and bit a citizen in Frederick County, Maryland. The porcine perpetrator was subsequently killed by Frederick County Animal […]
Contact: Colleen Kenny, Maryland DNR – Forest Service | colleen.kenny@maryland.gov Nandina domestica foliage and fruit. Photo: Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 1, 2018) – As you walk through the woods this February, most plants will appear dormant, but heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) will be on full display. While often used as […]
Contact: Colleen Kenny, Maryland DNR – Forest Service | colleen.kenny@maryland.gov ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 1, 2018) – Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive plant-hopping insect that attacks and feeds on a wide variety of fruit and tree species. Spotted lanternfly has been spreading throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, and because it was recently found for the first […]