If there is a bright side to any of the non-native invasive plants that are taking over our part of the planet and trust me there is no bright side. I'm being sarcastic because it wouldn't take Fox Moulder to find 'em. We're talking kudzu, privet, bush honeysuckle, English ivy, climbing euonymus and a host of others that are pushing out our native plants. The "greenest state in the land of the free" has been invaded.
That one tiny bright side is that Microstegium vimineum dies back early. Commonly known as Japanese stiltgrass, packing grass or Nepalese browntop, the grass is an annual that quickly spreads its seeds and bounces back next spring. It is common in a wide variety of habitats and is well adapted to low light. So it's a grass that grows where few other grasses will.
In Knoxville, our little claim to fame, or infamy, is that it was first documented and IDed in North America in 1918 growing along the mouth of Third Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River, barely two miles from where I type these words.
If you see Moulder and Scully, send them over.
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