UPDATE! Mile-A-Minute Invasive Vine Spotted in Glastonbury

UPDATE: On August 14th members of GPIP, the Conservation Commission, and the Town Environmental Planner joined Logan Senack at the Great Pond Preserve in South Glastonbury, where we did in fact find mile-a-minute vine. It has also been spotted on private property off Old Maids Lane.

Logan Senack, CT Invasive Plant Coordinator at the UCONN Department of Plant Science, reports that there have been two confirmed locations in Glastonbury with infestations of "mile-a-minute" vine. This is an extremely invasive vine that originated in Asia and was first reported growing in the wild in Pennsylvania in the 1930's. It has been creeping its way northward ever since.

This vine grows extremely rapidly, as the name implies. It will quickly cover native plants, depriving them of light and killing them.


Mile-A-Minute (MAM) vine. Note triangular leaf and distinctive round ocrea where the main
leaves attach to the vine. The vine also has small thorns. These 3 characteristics (triangular
leaf, existence of ocrea, and thorns on the vine are the identifiers of mile-a-minute vine.
(Renee Sullivan photo)

Detailed information on how to identify the plant is at the following: Mile-A-Minute Species Identification Page. The Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group (CIPWG) Fact Sheet provides further information.

A mile-a-minute web site has also been established which provides detailed information on spotting the vine and how to report it if you see it: CT Mile-A-Minute Vine Web Site
Here is a link directly to the Early Detection Reporting Form

Together we can work to limit the damage potential of invasive plants in our town! 

"Battling Bittersweet" Work Day, 9/28/13: It's Official!

Thanks to Ray Purtell and Greg Foran at the Glastonbury Parks and Recreation Department, Glastonbury Partners in Planting's proposal to hold a bittersweet eradication work day at Riverfront Park has been accepted! In addition to authorizing us to work on the site Parks and Rec will assist with the preparation of the site and with various tasks associated with the effort.

The Work Day will be held on September 28th, 2013 at Riverfront Park (200 Welles Street). Rain date is 10/5/13.

We need volunteers to help! The Work Day will be broken into two 3-hour shifts, from 9 to 12, and from 1 to 4. Volunteers may select the most convenient shift, and are asked to pre-register so we can form work teams.

For more details on the Work Day and for information on pre-registration please go to the BATTLING BITTERSWEET WORK DAY site.

Hope to see you there!

CIPWG Support Proposal: ACCEPTED!

Our June 10th post mentioned Glastonbury Partners In Planting's proposal to the Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group (CIPWG), requesting assistance for our September 28, 2013 "Battling Bittersweet" Work Day at Riverfront Park.

Today we received word from Donna Ellis that our Work Day has been selected as one that CIPWG will be supporting!

This is great news! It means CIPWG will be helping to spread the word about our work day by publicizing the event to its large network of experienced bittersweet battlers. CIPWG's help will be in addition to our own GPIP volunteers and volunteer workers from the Glastonbury community.

Together we can make it a fun and highly successful event, and establish a model for future efforts to control the spread of damaging invasives in town.

Click here for more information on the Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group.

Click here for more information on volunteering for the GPIP "Battling Bittersweet" Work Day.

Tree-Killing Snake Discovered in Glastonbury!

A rare tree-killing pythonidae celastrus orbiculatus was captured recently by local artist David Magee, who brought the snake to The Glastonbury Citizen.


Above: Artist David Magee with the Glastonbury pythonidae celastrus orbiculatus, now on exhibit
at the Audubon Center. Photo used with permission of the artist and The Glastonbury Citizen.

The snake has since been turned over to the local CT Audubon Society Center at 1361 Main Street for display. Known for its ability to freeze in one position for days when frightened, collection curator Sally Warbler is thrilled with the new acquisition, "It's scared all the time thanks to the many school children who visit. We don't even need a cage and so far it hasn't eaten any food. It's a great fit with our operating budget."


Above: Olivia Vennaro, a local resident and a summer intern at the CT Audubon Society Center
discourages the rare tree-killing snake from attacking nearby trees during its daily
exercise session. Olivia is a biology major at Skidmore College.

Pythonidae celastrus orbiculatus mimics the appearance and behavior of an invasive vine thus its common name "oriental bittersweet python." It is also called "laid-back snake" for it's extremely slow movements. "They're the sloths of the snake family," says herpetologist Egbert Souse, "Completely harmless to humans unless it mistakes you for a tree. The laid-back snake attacks and kills trees because they're the only living organism they can catch."

Souse's advice for handling an encounter with the oriental bittersweet python in the Glastonbury woods? "Doing the hokey-pokey or the Carlton shows them you're not a tree. The combination of dance movements and loud singing always sends them packing, although it may take a few months to see the results." he claims. "But don't do La Macarena, that just gets them mad."

Bittersweet Factories- A Major Problem

Most well-informed Glastonbury homeowners are able to keep oriental bittersweet at bay through regular control methods. But no amount of vigilance can prevent the reappearance of new seedlings in the spring. It can leave you wondering where the seeds come from, especially if you and your neighbors control oriental bittersweet growth before it reaches the level of maturity necessary to produce berries and seeds. You look around and think, "Where's this stuff coming from?"

The answer is simple- Bittersweet Factories.

A "bittersweet factory" is a land area, usually 1/2 acre or more, that has not been managed to control oriental bittersweet infestation. Typically there is no residence or business on the property so it is a case of "out of sight, out of mind" allowing an absentee property owner to ignore the problem. The land may be slated for eventual development so there is no motivation for the owner to invest in managing the natural area.

It only takes 5 years or so for vines to climb trees, mature, and turn into a wooded area into an out-of-control bittersweet factory. Some of the bittersweet factories in town have been producing hundreds of thousands if not millions of berries for 30 years and more. The berries are carried all over town by birds. They pass through the bird's digestive system and are dropped, undamaged and ready to come up in the spring as seedlings.

It's easy to spot a bittersweet factory in the winter after the leaves have fallen, by the hundreds of vines hanging from the trees. The older the bittersweet factory the more pronounced the tree damage is.

How dense is berry development in a bittersweet factory? The following picture, taken in late June, shows an area about 3' by 5' in a large bittersweet factory several acres in size. Imagine how many berries this "factory" produces. No wonder seedlings appear everywhere in the spring!

 

The proof that nobody escapes the Bittersweet Reaper? Even the shrubs in the median of the McDonalds parking lot are sprouting oriental bittersweet! (see below):

 

How can large bittersweet factories be managed to limit damage to the rest of the town? The simplest step is to cut the mature vines. This won't stop additional vines from coming up but it will stop the development of additional berries on the cut vines.

 

The purpose of this post is to encourage "bittersweet factory" owners to take steps to stop berry development by cutting as many mature vines as possible. This one step will dramatically reduce the spread of bittersweet to your neighbors and across the town.

The Bittersweet Challenge (Living On Earth, 6/8/12)

Here's a link to an excellent radio program from 6/8/12 about oriental bittersweet and a forester's "Bittersweet Challenge" to find the largest oriental bittersweet vine in Massachusetts. The contest ran through 8/12 and the winning vine was over 7" in diameter!

The Bittersweet Challenge- Radio Broadcast and Transcript

Rules For Lincoln Bell's 2012 Bittersweet Challenge

Is it time for a Glastonbury Bittersweet Challenge??? Don't throw that monster vine away yet!