Invasive SpeciesJapanese knotweed

Fallopia japonica
FOUND by kchambers
2012-08-02
Bethel
ID Confirmed
Quality checked by kchambers
Peer reviewed by
Field Notes
Last summer my husband and I bought our first home. As beautiful as it is, the sides of our yard are infested with the infamous Japanese knotweed! I've been meaning to post data for months now and here it is! Our next task is trying to eliminate it from our leach field!
Supporting Evidence
Photo of my evidence.
The leaves are large and slightly heart shaped.
Photo of my evidence.
There is an alternate leaf arrangement.
Photo of my evidence.
The stem has swollen joints and is growing in a zig-zag pattern.
Species Observation: Species Looked For
Did you find it?: 
I think I found it
Scientific name:
Fallopia japonica
Common name:
Japanese knotweed
Sampling method: 
Just looking around
Photo of our sampling method.
Place Studied
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Map this species
Latitude: 
N 44.384874 °
Longitude: 
W -70.765547 °
Observation Site Information
A photo of our study site.
Habitat: 
Upland - Field
Trip Information
Name:
My House
Trip date: 
Thu, 2012-08-02 13:28
Town or city: 
Bethel
Type of investigation: 
Species Survey
Ecosystem: 
Upland
Watershed: 
Upper Androscoggin

Comments

Submitted by sniffly salamander on Fri, 2012-08-03 17:37.

flat base

Your first evidence photo is great for showing the flat leaf base which is so different from the heart shaped leaf of the giant knotweed. It could be cool to have a photo of these leaves side by side on the two species cards... Just a thought.

Nice work kchambers!
~sniffly

Submitted by SpringyRabbit on Fri, 2012-08-03 10:56.

invasives in paradise

It seems impossible that knotweed could be growing so close to a street called "Paradise Road!"

If you decide to remove your knotweed, add a photo to this observation so we can see what you do. There's a new link ("Add a photo to your comments") right above the comments that lets you do that. Very cool.

Submitted by gbh on Thu, 2012-08-02 18:49.

oh, dear!

Hi kchambers,

Congratulations on your new house and condolences on your neighboring knotweed!

I have some on my property, too, but not as much as you have. I've been pretty successful just pulling it up by hand, but I have to do it almost once a month. There is quite a lot of information available online for how to deal with it. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension might have some good suggestions.

And by the way, great observation! Your data is just what is needed to confirm your identification of F. japonica. Your images are clear and crisp. Beautiful work.

cheers,
gbh