Acer negundo (Boxelder)

Not Toxicodendron radicans
Speeking (er, blogging) of poison ivy, a few months ago I posted a "Boxelder Revisit," showing a couple of early spring boxelder flowers. It turns out that I had never posted a "Boxelder Visit" (that I can find anyway). The story would have gone that while hacking down honeysuckle and such last fall, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a poison ivy vine on a small tree in the midst of the honeysuckle. Then I realized that there was no vine, and the tree itself was producing the leaves. Googling "poison ivy tree" immediately informed me that this was in fact a boxelder tree (Acer negundo), a type of maple.

Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy)

This is one leaf that I will not bring in to the office to scan. It is also one of the few native plants that I try to discourage from growing in our yard, for obvious reasons.




These pictures of young Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy) plants were taken in the woods behind our house on May 11-25, 2011.
A week or so ago I bought some "Roundup Poison Ivy Plus Tough Brush Killer" concentrate to try to get rid of these pretty little plants. After mixing it with water to make a gallon, I've been using a soft artist's paint brush to wet the leaves of the poison ivy and a few other invasives in the immediate vicinity. I've noticed some wilting and leaf deterioration, so I guess it's working, and my paint brush is still dead.

I was curious about the ingredients of this poison plant poison, but couldn't find them on the label nor on Roundup's web site, which just said it had 2 active ingredients. Toward the bottom of a 100-result Google search for "Roundup Poison Ivy Plus Tough Brush Killer ingredients," I found that besides Glyphosate (which I had assumed. since that's what's in regular Roundup), the other ingredient is Triclopyr triethylamine (TEA) salt. Tryclopyr is what's in Garlon 4, which is what I've seen recommended for killing buckthorn, so I guess it makes sense.

Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed)

Last night I was disappointed to find these Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) plants under the larger silver maple where I had cut down some buckthorn and honeysuckle last fall. I'm sure they were growing there last year (the stump of a hollow stem is evidence), but I didn't notice them then. After taking the pictures, I cut them down and submitted them for composting, assuming that's okay since they didn't have any flowers yet. Another item for the Invasive Plants page.

Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)

One of our silver maples (Acer saccharinum) suffers (to whatever extent a tree can suffer) from galls created by maple bladdergall mites (Vasates quadripedes). It's a fairly young tree that leans south from the edge of the woods, and has had these galls every year since I first noticed the tree. But this year the problem (if it really is one) seems worse than previous years. What prompted me to take a look at it today were the helicoptering seeds flying down from our bigger silver maple on the west side of the house.

Aegopodium podagraria (Bishop's Goutweed)

Aegopodium podagraria (Bishop's Goutweed) is another weed that I imported from our previous house unintentionally. Its stem has a triangular cross-section, which always snaps off when I try to pull the plant up. But it does have a nice smell when you break the stems.