Invasive SpeciesJapanese knotweed

Fallopia japonica
FOUND by Flower Child
2011-09-11
Frenchville
ID Confirmed
Quality checked by LindaMcD
Peer reviewed by etheriault
Field Notes
A sketch of our study site.
I came across it accidentally because, I was at my Aunt and Uncle's house, getting ready to go ride ATV. I needed to find Japanese Knotweed for a project, so when I saw it I was happy. I see houses, I hear birds chirping, people talking, I smell the crisp smell of apples. I am not surprised at all because, I knew what it looked like. But I was surprised when I found it because I wasn't looking for it at the time. I ran into no problems, except there were some bumble bees pollinating the flowers.
Supporting Evidence
Photo of my evidence.
It has fairly large heart shaped leaves.
Photo of my evidence.
Has clusters of little white flowers.
Photo of my evidence.
The leaves are alternate on the vine.
Species Observation: Species Looked For
Did you find it?: 
I think I found it
Scientific name:
Fallopia japonica
Common name:
Japanese knotweed
Count of individuals: 
1-10
Coverage: 
Less than 1/4 covered
Reproduction: 
Flower (plants)
Pollinators (plants)
Sampling method: 
Just looking around
Photo of our sampling method.
Place Studied
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Map this species
Latitude: 
N 47.353449 °
Longitude: 
W -68.325949 °
Observation Site Information
A photo of our study site.
Name:
Flower Child's visit to Frenchville, ME
Habitat: 
Upland - Developed areas
Trip Information
Name:
Frenchville, ME
Trip date: 
Sun, 2011-09-11 11:00
Town or city: 
Frenchville
Type of investigation: 
Species and Habitat Survey
Ecosystem: 
Upland
Watershed: 
Saint John
Sampling Method: 
Just looking around
Nearest waterbody: 
St. John River
Habitat Observations
Species diversity: 
5 different species
Evidence of vectors: 
Paved road
People
Recent disturbance
Tree canopy cover: 
Open to 1/4 covered
Soil moisture: 
Dry

Comments

Submitted by Flower Child on Fri, 2011-10-07 12:47.

Another Observation

Just to let you guys know, I did an observation on Meadow Rose, if you want to check it out! Thanks!
-Flower Child

Submitted by gbh on Sun, 2011-09-18 21:42.

It's all good!

Hey Flower Child,

I really like your attitude about mistakes - they are often the best teachers, in my experience at least! I'm already looking forward to your next observation!

cheers,
gbh

Submitted by Flower Child on Mon, 2011-09-26 13:11.

Thank You

Thank you! You just made my day! I try to take others advice and use it to improve things. I will try to make another observation as soon as possible!
-Flower Child

Submitted by gbh on Sun, 2011-09-18 21:42.

It's all good!

Hey Flower Child,

I really like your attitude about mistakes - they are often the best teachers, in my experience at least! I'm already looking forward to your next observation!

cheers,
gbh

Submitted by gbh on Thu, 2011-09-15 21:34.

How large?

Hi there,

Good, solid evidence, Flower Child. You chose to highlight some really important characteristics, like the zigzag stem and alternate leaves, the little white flowers. I was able, mostly, to figure out how big the leaves were because your hand was in one picture and a white paper in another, but next time, do just include a ruler next to the leaves. It really helps. Especially because there is another species of knotweed, Fallopia sachalinensis, which is identified by having bigger leaves than Fallopia japonica, as well as having hairs on the undersides of the leaves.

By the way, were you really in Canada? The location of your observation on the map does not appear to be in Frenchville...

Thanks for reporting!

Submitted by Flower Child on Sun, 2011-09-18 19:52.

Size, and Location

Thank you very much for the advice, next time I will make sure to include a ruler. Also, thank you for pointing out the error on my map. I was in Frenchville, not Canada. I guess I somehow messed up the map. Oh well, I guess I'll learn from my mistakes! I'll make sure to edit more carefully next time. Thank you again for your advice!
-Flower Child

Submitted by sniffly salamander on Fri, 2011-09-16 09:04.

location

Good call on that location marker, gbh. I didn't notice that!

Flower Child, you can get the correct latitude and longitude for your field site using this cool tool: http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html

Then if you leave those coordinates here in the comments section, the Vital Signs staff can fix it. It's pretty quick and easy, and gets your data in the right place.

Submitted by gmri on Thu, 2011-11-03 15:35.

triumphant return to Maine!

Hi Flower Child, I took your observation out of Canada and put it on what I think is your school building. If you have a minute to go to the itouchmap site to get the exact coordinates of your find, please paste them here anytime and I'll put your data in the right place on the map!

Submitted by sniffly salamander on Thu, 2011-09-15 16:39.

Flowers

I guess you must like flowers since it's in your username. I have found myself admiring the flowers of knotweed lately, despite myself. I know it's invasive but even the bees like it!

I am curious what it means for an ecosystem that an invasive can come in and maybe be harmful in some ways, but apparently helpful to some species (like bees). I wonder if anyone is out there learning about pollinators and invasives. That sounds like it could lead to some cool studies!