Invasive Grass Advisory
Invasive Grass AdvisoryInvasive Grass AdvisoryMuskegon Chronicle
New invader is a tough perennial grassSaturday, January 12, 2008
Reprinted from the Muskegon Chronicle article By Jeff Alexander
Bobbi Jones Sabine received an unpleasant surprise recently when a friend showed her a giant stalk of decorative grass he was going to plant in his yard.
"He said he found this really cool grass; he planned to put it near his pool," said Sabine, a longtime environmental consultant who is vice president of the Ottawa County Parks Commission. "When I saw it, I knew it was phragmites. I told him to get rid of it."
Phragmites, pronounced frag-MY-teez, is a giant, perennial reed that can grow to 15 feet tall. An invasive strain of the towering grass is spreading like a bad rash across Michigan, colonizing wetlands, crowding out native plants that provide wildlife habitat and, in some areas, harming residential property values
 by blocking water views. The plant is causing huge problems in eastern Michigan, particularly in wetlands and shoreline areas along Lake St. Clair and Saginaw Bay. Now it's making its presence felt in West Michigan.
"Once it gets a toe-hold, it grows like crazy," said Sabine, president of Aamazon Natural Resources Consulting in Grand Haven. "You can manage it if you're aggressive and persistent, but you'll never get rid of it."
Hundreds of phragmites plants are taking over a wetland, formerly known as Old Kent Pond, on Grand Haven's Harbor Island.
Small stands of phragmites also have been found along portions of Muskegon Lake, White Lake, the Lake Michigan beach at Little Sable Point in Oceana County, and at the Upper Macatawa Natural Area near Zeeland. Experts said the large number of lakes, streams and wetlands in West Michigan make the area vulnerable to the phragmites plague.
"I just got here six months ago and I spotted it right away," said Dan O'Keefe, southwest district extension educator at the Michigan Sea Grant office in Grand Haven. "It's rampant in drainage ditches."
One strain of phragmites is native to Michigan and much of the United States. The strain spreading across the state likely was imported to North America in the early 20th century in packing material and ballast that European ships dumped in ports, according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Possession of the plants or their seeds is prohibited in Michigan.
The plants are a menace for shoreline property owners along the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair in eastern Michigan. Huge stands of phragmites in some places have created walls of vegetation that obstruct water views.
"There are areas along Lake St. Clair where people can't see the lake from their cottages," said Ernie Kafcas, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist in Macomb County. "It grows so tall it shades out other plants; it's also a fire hazard if it's near buildings."
Phragmites seeds, found in feathery plumes atop the plants, can be carried long distances by the wind. The plants also have extensive root systems that can extend 60 feet from its stalk. Those root systems, called rhizomes, spawn new plants if severed.
Muskegon Chronicle, Saturday, January 12, 2008.
By Jeff Alexander
For more educational information check this web site link by the United Stated Department of Agriculture.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PHAU7 Uncovered by Joseph Yantis |