Not only has the burning bush (Euonymus altus) been widely planted by highway departments, groundskeepers, professional landscapers and homeowners, but also, even more frightening, it is spread unwittingly by many different species of birds.
Usually in urban areas, especially "in town," it behaves reasonably. In downtown Pittsfield, for instance, lovely bushes adorn one side of City Hall (and many public properties) and probably are less of a problem than specimens planted and encouraged in rural settings.
When planted along roads and near woods, it easily escapes cultivation, becoming a threat in fields and forests as it out-competes the native species, reducing diversity. Along almost any sparsely populated road, burning bush will turn up not only in many yards but also the woods and roadsides between them.
It is, we have learned, an invasive!
And just what do I mean? In this instance and the others I will cite in this column, it means well-behaved plants have run amok. They have escaped cultivation, and because they are non-native, many have few or no natural enemies and often are prolific seed producers.
During a recent drive across Richmond to visit its apple orchards with out-of-town guests, I couldn't help but notice well-tended burning bush in people's
As of the beginning of 2009, it is unlawful to propagate or sell this plant in Massachusetts. In short, it is prohibited, although there is no movement under way that I have heard of to remove it or other ornamental invasives. Even a couple plants, say in someone's yard, along a back road can disrupt the natural growth of a nearby woodlot. Its seed production is prodigious, and because many seeds germinate close to the mother plant, the normal undergrowth of ferns, small herbs, and miscellaneous shrubs soon disappear.
Another commonly planted and nurtured shrub that has been found wandering across field and into forest, from tended hedges and foundation plantings is the Asian native, Japanese barberry (not to be confused with bayberry). It was brought to North America in the later 19th century and has been widely planted. This is the shrub many, especially children, call "pricker bushes." It has been planted widely as a protective hedge, and for its scarlet autumn foliage. Its small red berries last through much of the winter. Because of its plentiful seed production, which is typical for many invasive plants, it soon covers wide expanses of open woodlands.
Its escape from cultivation went unnoticed in the beginning, and now is well enough established to crowd out undergrowth.
I first noticed its extent some years ago while hiking with my family to the Boulders overlooking Coltsville reached from the Gulf Road in Dalton. Before I removed it from the corner of my property, I had, on occasion, carefully picked the berries to make a jelly. Birds sometimes eat the berries, and spread the shrub into new areas. Both plants should not be allowed to grow in rural properties, attractive as they may be.
As of Jan. 1, these additional ornamental species are prohibited to propagate, sell, trade, etc. in Massachusetts: \ Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) \ Bell's honeysuckle (Lonicera x bella) (L. morrowii x L. tatarica] \ Bishop's weed; goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) \ Creeping Jenny; moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) \ Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) \ Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) \ Norway maple (Acer platanoides) \ Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) \ Tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)
Send queries and comments to Thom Smith, Berkshire Museum natural science curator, emeritus, to Post Office Box 582, Dalton, MA 01227 or email: naturewatch@yahoo.com.
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