Take a Walk at Ivy Creek

North Field Trail
Virginia's Historic Natural Landscape

Invasive Plants at Ivy Creek: The Big Three

Vines: In the edge habitat with its full sunlight and backdrop of large trees, vines thrive. Native vines found here include several species of wild grape, Virginia creeper and poison ivy. However, none can compete with the exotic asiatic or oriental bittersweet (photo.) A vigorously growing vine, bittersweet climbs over and smothers native vegetation, robbing it of sunlight. It climbs by girdling the trunks of trees further stressing the growth of its host. An abundance of showy fruits have made oriental bittersweet popular for use in winter holiday arrangements, another mechanism for its rapid spread.

Trees: Ailanthus with its long compound leaves resembles black walnut and sumac. However, smooth light gray bark and a foul smell when broken off, easily distinguish it from the others. Also known as the " tree of heaven," ailanthus can grow almost anywhere and lets little else grow with it as it releases an allelopathic compound that poisons the soil around it. As with many invasives, it spreads both vegetatively through suckering and by prolific seed production.

Shrubs: In the shrub category, autumn olive takes the prize for most invasive at Ivy Creek. It can be readily identified by looking at the back of its leaf which has an silvery sheen to it. Ironically, this plant was imported in the 1920s to increase the deer population that had been nearly eliminated from Virginia at that time. Like many invasives, it has some charming qualities such as fragrant spring flowers and edible fruit. Butterflies and bees swarm the flowers and birds and squirrels love the fruit, facilitating its spread.

Learn more about invasive plant problems from the Virginia Natural Heritage Program of DCR

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