Something strange in the woods
Gammy and I went out to Missouri yesterday to visit our daughter and family.
I was given the job of eradicating two invasive plants that the previous owners had apparently planted: winter creeper and star of Bethlehem.
Winter creeper euonymus (Euonymus fortunei)
Winter creeper euonymus (Euonymus fortunei), also called creeping euonymus, is a perennial plant that grows as a groundcover, climbing vine, or sprawling shrub. It was introduced from China in 1907 for use as an ornamental evergreen groundcover. In 1994, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported it as being invasive in natural areas of Maryland. The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) named winter creeper a Tier 1 invasive plant, as of February 2018. This classification means that a person may not propagate, import, transfer, sell, purchase, transport, or introduce any living part of a Tier 1 invasive plant in the state of Maryland. src
This stuff is incredibly difficult to get rid of.
The vines run across the ground until they find something to climb, then it's up, up and away.
Left alone, this vine will eventually choke and kill trees. There are several black walnuts on the property that are showing signs of decline because of it.
As a side note, I've seen whole tracts of pine trees destroyed by Kudzu in Georgia particularly between Albany and Columbus.
Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)
Description: Star of Bethlehem's flowers are in clusters at the tips of stems to 1 foot tall. The 3 sepals and 3 petals (when they're so similar, they're collectively called tepals) form an attractive star, often 3-cornered, bright white on the upper surface, with green lines on the underside. Blooms April–June. The leaves are grasslike, succulent, very dark green, rolled inward with a white center vein. When the weather starts getting hot, the leaves turn yellow and start to wither away. Rootstock: bulbs, produced at an amazing rate. src
Other common names: Star of Bethlehem, bird's milk, eleven-o'clock lady, nap-at-noon, sleepydick, grass lily
This plant is toxic if ingested.
As I was performing my duty for the day, I stumbled across something that I had never found buried in a tree line: a 32 MB hard drive.
Clearly, this thing has seen better days.
Who throws a hard drive into the woods?
Don't know, don't care. I brought it home so I could take it apart and get the neodymium magnet in the voice coil.
Have you ever found anything strange while gardening or doing yard work?
Images from the pages listed as src above.