Can anyone ID this plant?

[A#1]

I keep running into this plant. It seems like some form of ground cover, and I assume, non-native to northern Michigan.

Am I correct?

 

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[Tpmetal]

can't remember the name, it's none native up here, usually found by cellar holes.....

 

[Carolina Tom]

Periwinkle!

It's at most of the old house sites in the woods. If we see that or English Ivy, we know someone was at that spot, and brought those plants with them.

 

[Rookster]

I'm not sure the name but it looks like what I'm getting in places around my hood. It's a low crawler, doesn't bloom and will destring my weed whacker.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Also called Myrtle. In the process of transplanting a bunch of it from an old homestead site. It gets small purple flowers on it.
It will definitely be there longer than I will.

 

[Raider19962]

It's Vinca minor, in the creeping myrtle / periwinkle family.

 

[Kantuckkeean]

Also called Myrtle. In the process of transplanting a bunch of it from an old homestead site. It gets small purple flowers on it.
It will definitely be there longer than I will.

I would definitely not recommend transplanting it. It is an invasive, exotic species which originates from Europe and Asia. It displaces native plants and doesn't benefit our wildlife. I'm not sure where you're located, but you should look into native groundcovers that will do what you want while benefiting wildlife. Please check with your local native plant society or your state's Department of Natural Resources to find a suitable alternative. Controlling invasive, exotic species and crop losses due to invasive species cost billions of dollars annually and controlling them and replacing them with native species is a large part of my job and my personal life around my property. Few people recognize that we are currently facing serious threats to biodiversity and that the extinction rate is at least 1000x the baseline extinction rate, largely due to habitat loss. However, invasive exotic species pose serious threats to biodiversity due to their ability to outcompete our native species. To control Vinca, triclopyr (Garlon 3A) or glyphosate can be used at the maximum rate with a non-ionic surfactant. Make sure to follow all applicable laws and regulations when using herbicides and follow label instructions, including the use of proper personal protective equipment.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[Kantuckkeean]

Periwinkle!

It's at most of the old house sites in the woods. If we see that or English Ivy, we know someone was at that spot, and brought those plants with them.

The seeds of English Ivy are also dispersed by birds. Many of the invasive, exotic species are spread by birds which eat the berries and poop them out into our natural areas. The Baskins at the University of Kentucky found that most prevalent seed in the soil of one of Kentucky's old-growth forests (Blanton Forest) was autumn olive (another invasive, exotic). It was largely brought in by birds. The seed source was undoubtedly coal surface mines in the surrounding area, many of which have been converted from forests into "hay/pastureland" or "wildlife habitat" as the post-mining land use. Autumn olive was formerly planted by the millions on surface mines across Appalachia, before reclamationists understood the problems associated with it. I cannot overstate the importance of using native species.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[coinman123]

I have seen this plant at many cellar holes, rarely anywhere else, and never though much of it. One cellar hole had the ground within 50 feet of it in any direction completely covered with it, to the point where you can't even see the ground. I always find it cool seeing non native plants at cellar holes, that were planted sometimes centuries ago. My favorite example of this is a cellar hole deep in the woods, abandoned in the 1830's or so, with tons of daffodils that bloom in the spring.

 

[Kantuckkeean]

I have seen this plant at many cellar holes, rarely anywhere else, and never though much of it. One cellar hole had the ground within 50 feet of it in any direction completely covered with it, to the point where you can't even see the ground. I always find it cool seeing non native plants at cellar holes, that were planted sometimes centuries ago. My favorite example of this is a cellar hole deep in the woods, abandoned in the 1830's or so, with tons of daffodils that bloom in the spring.

Hi coinman123,

This is a perfect example of the drawbacks of invasive plants. The cellar hole that you found that had periwinkle 50' in any direction is now essentially a biological desert that is of very little use to native wildlife. What likely started as a small patch near the house was probably no greater than 100 sq. ft. and was likely much smaller than that. That patch of periwinkle has now grown to ~2,000 sq. ft. area. In a healthy, undisturbed forest understory, one might find 50, to more than 100 different species of plants in a 2,000 sq. ft. area, depending on the geographic location, soils, slope aspect, etc. Now that the periwinkle has established, the species richness has certainly declined to the point where you may find fewer than a dozen species in that 2,000 sq. ft. area. And as bad as it is, I don't consider periwinkle to be that bad of an invasive exotic species. Some invasive species are so much worse than periwinkle and choke out everything, so that only one species remains... the invasive. For those in the south, they're probably thinking that I'm referring to kudzu, but I'm not. Even kudzu allows a few plants to survive under its dreadful, choking canopy (e.g. Mayapples). Japanese knotweed is a truly evil invasive, exotic plant that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Folks from Pennsylvania likely know it all too well. Oriental bittersweet is another exotic invasive that I have nightmares about. For every non-native horticultural plant, there is a native alternative that is much better.

Some species, though non-native, are not invasive. I like seeing the daffodils as well, even though they're not native, they're rather benign and quite pretty.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[Kray Gelder]

Hi coinman123,

This is a perfect example of the drawbacks of invasive plants. The cellar hole that you found that had periwinkle 50' in any direction is now essentially a biological desert that is of very little use to native wildlife. What likely started as a small patch near the house was probably no greater than 100 sq. ft. and was likely much smaller than that. That patch of periwinkle has now grown to ~2,000 sq. ft. area. In a healthy, undisturbed forest understory, one might find 50, to more than 100 different species of plants in a 2,000 sq. ft. area, depending on the geographic location, soils, slope aspect, etc. Now that the periwinkle has established, the species richness has certainly declined to the point where you may find fewer than a dozen species in that 2,000 sq. ft. area. And as bad as it is, I don't consider periwinkle to be that bad of an invasive exotic species. Some invasive species are so much worse than periwinkle and choke out everything, so that only one species remains... the invasive. For those in the south, they're probably thinking that I'm referring to kudzu, but I'm not. Even kudzu allows a few plants to survive under its dreadful, choking canopy (e.g. Mayapples). Japanese knotweed is a truly evil invasive, exotic plant that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Folks from Pennsylvania likely know it all too well. Oriental bittersweet is another exotic invasive that I have nightmares about. For every non-native horticultural plant, there is a native alternative that is much better.

Some species, though non-native, are not invasive. I like seeing the daffodils as well, even though they're not native, they're rather benign and quite pretty.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

Thanks for sharing your knowledge of invasive plant species. Truly appreciated, and needed.

 

[kingskid1611]

vinca major is just as invasive. And much more of an eye candy plant as it is the variegated variety....do not transplant to your house....

 

[coinman123]

Also annoying to dig through too, my shovel often gets tangled in it while digging, and pulling the shovel out of the hole. Normally at cellar holes with it, there are just a few patches in certain area, but like I said, some can have huge amounts up to the 50' at one cellar hole that I mentioned before. I also don't see it very often at cellar holes that were abandoned in the 1700's or early 1800's, not sure if this was because it wasn't planted by settlers then, or farming in the 1800's and later destroyed the plants.

 

[ToddsPoint]

and that the extinction rate is at least 1000x the baseline extinction rate, largely due to habitat loss.Kindest regards,
Kantuck

I don't believe the "6th great extinction" stuff. Extinction rate 1000X baseline? Please name three or four species that have gone extinct in the last 10 yrs. I'll bet you can't. Gary

 

[Plumbata]

Japanese knotweed is a truly evil invasive, exotic plant that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Folks from Pennsylvania likely know it all too well. Oriental bittersweet is another exotic invasive that I have nightmares about.

I completely agree, and would like to submit Wild Parsnip and Poison Hemlock to the list of vile invasive plants.

Regarding encouraging native biodiversity, I successfully established some colonies of Wild Leeks (Ramps, Allium tricoccum) at the family property in Central IL, which I transplanted from Columbus, OH. Prior to habitat destruction the wild leeks were known to exist in central Illinois but I had never seen any in all my hiking around. Also trying to get American Persimmon established, it apparently has been reported in the county but being at the northern extreme of its range it will take some seedlings with superior cold-resistant genetics to get established. A very lovely and quite uncommon prairie plant is the "Prairie Mimosa" or "Illinois Bundleflower", truly beautiful and also very worthy of nurturing. I tried getting the interesting edible American Groundnut going too but was unsuccessful, gotta try again.

It's a lot of work but very good for the soul.

 

[cactusrat]

I don't believe the "6th great extinction" stuff. Extinction rate 1000X baseline? Please name three or four species that have gone extinct in the last 10 yrs. I'll bet you can't. Gary

1. Pinta Island Tortoise, June 24, 2012
2. West African Black Rhinocero 2011
3. Alaotra Grebe, 2010
4. Caribbean Monk Seal 2008

 

[Kantuckkeean]

1. Pinta Island Tortoise, June 24, 2012
2. West African Black Rhinocero 2011
3. Alaotra Grebe, 2010
4. Caribbean Monk Seal 2008

Thank you cactusrat!!

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[Kantuckkeean]

I don't believe the "6th great extinction" stuff. Extinction rate 1000X baseline? Please name three or four species that have gone extinct in the last 10 yrs. I'll bet you can't. Gary

I’m gonna level with you Gary. Your arrogance really ticked me off. Please do not make assumptions about me or make bets about what I can or cannot do.

Naming species that have gone extinct in the last 10 years, as you suggested, is extremely short-sighted when arguing about aspects of an evolutionary or geologic timescale. It’s like saying, “…nothing went extinct in the last 2 seconds, so extinctions are not occurring. It was cold yesterday so the climate isn’t changing.” It is also actually a quite difficult challenge that you have posed, as it is nearly impossible to prove that a species has gone extinct (like Bigfoots… or is it Bigfeet? … it’s hard to prove that Bigfoots do not exist because believers can always say that you weren’t looking in the right place at the right time whereas one can easily show that mosquitoes still exist… but I digress). However, I accept your challenge and my answers are at the bottom of this response but first I want to jump onto this here pedestal so that I can throw a little education your way…

What I find truly disheartening is that people will have a heart attack and call 911 on their cell phone (developed by scientists). The signal is transmitted to towers and connects via satellites and algorithms (also developed by scientists) to a responder who sends in the EMTs. Then they get into an automobile or helicopter made of metals and plastics, powered by the internal combustion engine and electronics (all of which were also developed by scientists). When they arrive at the hospital, they’re placed under fluorescent lights and saved by medical technologies (developed by scientists). They pick up their cell phone and call friends and relatives and talk about how “lucky” they are. They trust all of this stuff to work, even though they little understand the how and why. Light bulbs, refrigerators, airplanes, laptops, cell phones, microwave ovens, televisions, cameras, etc… all of the things that we take for granted every day were developed by scientists. However, when scientists say that the climate is changing or that human actions are having a negative impact on the natural world, all of a sudden, those scientists are liars with an agenda… scientists who have studied and devoted their lives to observation, data collection and analysis, and experimentation. So what I want to say to all of the people like you, Gary, is this: Until you get out and take some ice cores from Antarctica and study the composition of the gases trapped in the air bubbles, until you get out and band birds, or do population surveys and publish your results, you should either keep your mouth shut and accept the findings of the scientists and follow their recommendations or show the world your evidence and publish your results to prove to us how we’re all idiots. Here’s a fun fact for all the climate change deniers: As the earth spins on its axis as it revolves around the sun, it wobbles a little bit. Recently, the High-Q teams at NASA and NOAA showed that the earth’s wobble on its axis has changed due to climate change. One might ask… “How is that possible?” It turns out that enough ice has melted from glaciers and northern latitudes that the distribution of the earth’s water weigh has changed enough to affect Earth’s wobble. Interesting. And yes, the melting of ice is contributing to sea level rise, which can be measured by… Gary? That’s right… those cool satellites that the scientists built for us. But again, I digress.

Back to species extinctions. After a certain amount of time, it becomes accepted by the public that a species is truly extinct (e.g. the dodo, Tasmanian tiger, the Great Auk, Carolina parakeet, Ivory-billed woodpecker?, passenger pigeon, Stellar’s sea cow, et al.). The “1000x” baseline rate is based upon estimations of speciation (i.e. new species formation) vs. species loss (i.e. extinction). In a static or semi-static ecosystem, one would expect the rate of speciation and species loss to be nearly equal. Since our ecosystem (Earth) is highly dynamic, there are times when speciation exceeds species loss and vice-versa. Currently, species loss greatly exceeds speciation and in the absence of meteor impacts, excessive volcanic activity, and abnormal solar activity, the most likely explanation is human activity.

In addition to the 4 examples that cactusrat provided (thanks again!), there are dozens, and likely hundreds of obscure plants, insects, animals, fungi, bacteria, etc. that are not “megafauna” and are known only by their Latin binomials and are entirely unknown by the general public and have gone extinct in the past 10 years. Below are six+ extinctions (again, "megafauna") that are known to the public. However, you’ll note that the year of extinction is speculation, based upon last sighting, and I admit that some of them may still be out there and will soon be extinct, which is why there is a question mark after the year. Some of these are on the IUCN list, some are derived from other sources. I also included the others because it is worth reminding people of our past mistakes so that we, hopefully, do not repeat them. You’ll note that cactusrat’s and my examples are all terrestrial and avian species. I cannot even fathom the extinctions occurring around the world’s oceans, especially the coral reefs, which are currently undergoing unprecedented levels of “bleaching” or die-off. Anyway, here's a list of recent extinctions, but again, the timeline is a little questionable. Now Gary, please prove me wrong and show me that they haven't gone extinct. I'll bet you can't.

1. Mt. Lewis lemuroid ringtail possums, a subspecies of lemuroid ringtail possum that exhibits a pure white coat (2005?)
Cause: Climate change — localized heatwave
Once abundant, spotlight searches could usually find one individual/hour. In 2005, a heatwave hit Mt. Lewis in Australia and in the 3 years following 2005, no individuals were located. In 2009, 3 of the more common, brown lemuroids were sighted on Mt. Lewis. Those were the last sightings. Not necessarily within your 10-year challenge, but noteworthy.

2. Pyrenean Ibex (2000?) Again, not within your 10-year challenge, but noteworthy because the cause is largely unknown.

3. Christmas Island Pipistrelle (2009?)

4. Bramble Cay melomys (2016?)

5. Cryptic Treehunter (?)

6. Poo-uli (2004?)

7. New Claedonian Lorikeet (last sighted in 1987)

8. Javan Lapwing (1994?)

9. Pernambuco Pygmy Owl (2001?)

10. Glaucous Macaw (1998?)

Kantuck

 

[A#1]

Thanks for the intel. I was assuming it was an invasive of some sort, with the way it was spread. Seems to be common in this area and not others. I mostly run into lilac, which there was also plenty of.

I actually just found this at another site today. All the sitesI've seen it at date from the early 1900's is all, the older places are only lilac so far.

 

[cactusrat]

Thank you cactusrat!!

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

Your welcome.