Invasive Non-woody Plant Species (spreading dogbane)

[jayfed]

Below is a photo of a non-woody plant that is beginning to get a bit carried away with the available space on the farm. There are now three small colonies on the farm. It seems to be a partial to fuller shade species.

It has also been found at another small farm in town this year.

The plant height is about three feet with a speading canopy. The pic shows one of the smooth 'branches' and the easily pulled 'root' section of the main bole.  The sap is milky. 

The leaf veins are parallel.  The leaves are a darker green, opposite and the upper stems are a purplish rust color. Leaf backside is gritty, not hairy. Leaf steams hollow.

Flowers are very small white and light pink with the pink predominate. This pic happens to be the one plant which seems to have seed pods(?) coming off seperate stems by the flowers.

Actually attractive overall.  A dime is placed in the photo.

One local business gardener thought it might be a euraisian honeysuckle. I am clueless.

I am concern as to the potential serious of this plant taking over all the other weeds/ flowers that are 'native'. The woods grasses might be in trouble, too.

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Thanks for any help any of you might send this way.

[SwampDonkey]

Does yours branch out some like this?






I was trying to ID this and kinda come close with butterfly pea, but I'm having doughts.

I gotta go take a quick stroll up on the woodlot to console my live plant archives. If it's what I got here, it ain't a foreign invasive. I will have an answer on the id of my plant today hopefully.

[SwampDonkey]

Ok the main twig of my plant branches out and leaves are dark green and parrallel veined. The flowers are bell shaped and pink in color from pink-striping. Flowers are terminal or in leave axils. Mine are almost past flowering now. I think we have the same plant.


I believe it to be spreading dogbane Apocynum androsaemifolium. Plant is poisonous, but has been used in indian remedies and the plant has shown antitumour activity. Believed to be poisonous to cattle and the milky sap can cause rash is very sensitive individuals.

[jayfed]

Yepper, it's the spreading dogbane!   Time for eradication with some brush killer before I have to rename this farm "Dogbane Farm".

Thanks muchly guys.  Seems like a person will always find an answer at this forum in one fashion or another.

Looks like there are three thunderstorms stacked-up to the west of here on the radar.  Storm named "F3" should be here in about 20 minutes, so It's time to pull the wall plugs and phone lines.  The phone lines have been zapped at one house or another on this short road 3 times in the last 15 years. I don't want my phone flying off the wall or, as the next neighbor had in her bedroom, while she was still in bed, a fireball come out of the wall otlet and strike her opposing wall.

Again, thanks for the ID.  Jay