Non-native, invasive plants are a major challenge on National Wildlife Refuges where they can displace native species and degrade wildlife habitat.  Pale swallow-wort and black swallow-wort are herbaceous invasive plant species and these vines are capable of choking out native plants. Swallow-wort may have been originally brought to North America for horticultural purposes as an ornamental plant. The shoots of swallow-wort start to emerge from the soil in the spring. The plants flower in the early summer and produce seed pods towards late July and early August. Volunteers will help with cutting, hand pulling, digging and bagging plants for disposal to help manage them and prevent further spread.

We need your help to remove invasive swallow-wort! We’ll be meeting at Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in Shirley.

 

WHAT TO BRING/FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS:

• Clothing: long pants/long sleeves, high socks -ticks and poison ivy may be prevalent
• Hat/sunscreen/bugspray
• Water bottle