Ancient humans were hunters and gatherers of plant products from the wilds around them. They moved on to a new locality when their food supply became scarce. There was also the natural urge to see what was over the ridge or on the far side of the river.
The natural consequence of these actions led to the scattering of the human species over the earth from Africa, where fossil evidence indicates was the origin of us all. These migrations led to the development of isolated pockets of humans that eventually became the different races with their own distinctive gene assortments. Because of the essential role of Vitamin-D, the sunshine vitamin, the lighter pigmented races developed in the northern areas, and the darker in the southern areas. The gregarious nature of our species and the need for protection were major factors leading to the development of bands or tribes. Population concentration could only come about when the nomadic existence gave way to an agricultural system that used the most productive wild plants, such as rice. The people then learned as they moved to new areas, to take these valuable "wild" plants with them. in time, plants that gave flavor and fiber were added to the mother lode. Corn and potatoes were discovered in the northern Andes of South America.
Further development of the population and migration led to the movement of great numbers of useful and ornamental.plants and sometimes undesirables.
Garlic mustard was intentionally brought over from Europe as
a flavor enhancer. 7he plant juices have a strong garlic ad~r and taste. It has become naturalized, widespread, and one of our most troublesome weedy herbaceous plants. It is in every woods and unmewed back yard in Seneca County and is a very aggressive weed. It is a biennial, produces volumnous seeds, about 2-3 feet tall, and has just finished flowering. Each flower has f~ur rather small white petals.
Thousands of non-indigenous plant species have become naturalized in the U. 6. About 300 ave truly invasive and about 150 of these were brought here to beautify our gardens. One- third to one-fifth of all species growing north of Mexico, according to the rlora of North America have come from other continents.
Purple loosestrife was introduced from Eurasia to the northeastern U. 6. in the early 1800~s. It has spread through the temperate parts of North America. It is a perennial, about G feet tall with long, very showy spikes of purple flowers. It dominates infested wet-lands between June and September. It has been declared in many states a noxious weed. It destroys and replaces native vegetation, and is of no value far wildlife, The Conservation Commissions over the years have recommended many exotic plants for all kinds of reasons. We are well aware of some of the plants, such as multiflora rose, kudzu vine and Šjohnsan-priss. Our 6011 and Water Conservation Commission is now recommending two bush honeysuckles that produce fruit which song birds like. Many seeds pass through the birds digestive tract, unharmed, and deposited everywhere. Both honeysuckles, the
Tartarian and Amur, are invasive h~rticultural shrubs.
The Amur honeysuckle, native to the Amur area of northern China, was introduced to a St.Petersburg Garden in 1880. rrom there, they were introduced over Europe. The U. S. D. A. imported it from several European countries and released it into the U. S. in 1927. It soon became available in nurseries throughout. The weedy potential of the shrub is now well documented. It is now the main woody weed in Seneca County woods and there is a major infestation in the St. Francis woods. This shrub may grow to a height of 20 feet, have beautiful almost evergreen leaves and pink to white flowers in groups of two that develop into paired bright red fruit.
Practical solutions to eradicating these three plants (Amur honeysuckle, garlic mustard, and purple loose strife:, from Seneca County and Ohio are unknown to this author. Mary and I have pulled 100's of garlic mustard plants from our backyard before they go to seed, and we still have problems.
One could go the route of killing the honeysuckle in the woods but that requires drastic herbicides. A method that has worked is to cut the bushes off very close to the ground and then cover the cut ends with about a 3 foot square of heavy black plastic and peg the corners down. This method will be tested in the St. Francis woods.
The purple loosestrife is an ecological disaster to the wetlands. Eradication will require township, county, state, and federal help. There are now some organized programs using volunteers in an attempt to remove it by pulling the plant from
special selected areas in Ohio. Education and recognition of the plant is very important.
I plead guilty in the attempt to move some of the acid- loving West Virginia flora of my early surroundings to the flat- land alkaline soil of Seneca County with little success. Wild azaleas, rhododendron, and mountain laurel have very little survival power out of their natural ecological niche. About 25 years ago, purple loosestrife was in full flower along Interstate 90 in New York, and I thought of how nice it would look in my back yard!
-- Percy