Why work for Purdue Extension in Wayne County?
We are a small, but mighty office with really experienced staff. We really love serving our community and are passionate about what we do. We are located in Richmond, Indiana which is a little over an hour's drive from Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and other great locations. We have multiple institutions of higher education in the community, outdoor amenities, low cost of living, and a small, but vibrant city.
From the IDNR Division of Entomology & Plant Pathology Weekly Review for July 10, 2024. I found very interesting reports from Eric Biddinger and Bonnie Spindler on 2 invasive plants that I want to share with all of you:
(Eric) Finally, I wanted to end with a picture from a neighbor’s front yard. This was one of three Callery pears on this property that failed in a recent storm. The owners had already cleaned up the branches when I got there, but the remaining trunk tells the story of a branch union weakened by poor structure and included bark. Aside from this species’ invasive habits, its propensity to fail starting around the 15 to 20-year mark should dissuade the choice of Callery pear for landscape use. This branch failure removed nearly half of the canopy and left a gaping wound that cannot heal.
(Bonnie) I’m a wanderer who always enjoys checking out hedgerows, roadsides, or any wild area that might have interesting plants. Last month, a mulberry tree caught my notice. As I ambled that way, I noticed a multitude of Pastinaca sativa growing beneath it. P. sativa is also known as wild or (less commonly) poison parsnip. Don’t touch this plant! It contains toxins that cause photodermatitis. They inhibit your body’s protection from sunlight. Coming in contact with it while exposed to sunlight can cause severe blistering, rash, localized burning, and discoloration.
P. sativa is a non-native invasive weed that can be found in dry sunny areas across the state. It’s a biennial, growing close to the ground as a leafy rosette the first year and then bolting up to four feet tall, flowering, and dying the second year. It flowers from late-spring to mid-summer with hundreds of bright yellow flowers arranged in umbels. It smells similar to cultivated parsnip.
The best protection from P. sativa is avoidance regardless of what other interesting plants are nearby. If skin exposure does occur, immediately wash with soap and water and keep covered out of direct sunlight.
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