Privet, Honeysuckle and Wisteria Got Away

 

Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) flowers. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Sometimes things get away.  Three common plants that were imported into the United States for their utility, flowers and fragrance have escaped domestication and turned invasive.  Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) have left the gardens and gone into the wild where they are choking out native plants.  As their names imply, all three of these plants originated in eastern Asia.  

Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinsese) flowers. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Chinese Privet.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Chinese Privet is a shrub or small tree in the Olive family, the Oleracea.  It was brought to North America in the mid-19^th century as an ornamental and hedge plant.  It escaped cultivation and now covers thousands of acres in the southeastern United States.  Chinese Privet produces abundant white flowers that develop into purple fruits.  These are eaten by birds that disperse seeds in their droppings.  It is called one of the worst invasive plants by the US Department of Agriculture and out competes natives.  It is especially common in the understory of swamp forests.  

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) flowers. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Japanese Honeysuckle overgrowing wild shrubs.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Japanese Honeysuckle is a vine that is native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. It is classified in the family Caprifoliaceae that includes a number of native honeysuckles.  Japanese Honeysuckle was imported from Japan in the early 1800s for its white and yellow flowers and its sweet aroma.  This vine was also used to prevent erosion and as food for deer.  Japanese Honeysuckle also made an escape and is often found in sunny, disturbed areas where it can grow into dense tickets of vines.  The vines shade out other plants and prevent germination of native trees. 

Chinese Wisteria vines in full flower.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Chinese Wisteria flowers.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Chinese Wisteria is a woody vine in the Pea family, the Fabaceae.  It originated in China but has been introduced to many temperate regions of the world.  Chinese Wisteria grows across the ground and up trees where it produces cascades of purple to white flowers in the spring.  The flowers are not only beautiful, but they also have a delicate fragrance.  These features made Chinese Wisteria a landscape staple.  In the southeastern United States Chinese Wisteria has become invasive covering extensive areas. It can even overgrow and kill large trees. 

Chinese Wisteria covering trees.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Japanese Honeysuckle, Chinese Privet and Chinese Wisteria were brought to the United States and other locations around the world with the best intentions.  But these plants got away causing serious environmental problems. Removal of these invasive plants costs millions of dollars each year.  Despite the ecological disruptions and the money it takes to remove invasive plants, they continue to be available for sale in nurseries around the country.  They will be planted anew and get away to cause further problems.