Grow Native! Don’t Plant a

PestA public outreach campaign from the Arizona Native Plant Society

The Arizona Native Plant Society is a statewide nonprofit organization devoted to Arizona's native plants. Its mission is to promote knowledge, appreciation, conservation, and restoration of Arizona native plants and their habitats.

1. Are not from other ecosystems.

2. Cause economic or environmental harm as they spread!

INVASIVE, NON-NATIVE SPECIES

Animals and Microbes can be Invasive Non-Native Species,

too!

Cecil Schwalbe

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

www.answers.com www.mdinvasivespecies.com www.wikimedia.com

Invasive Plants from Other

Regions

Kudzu (Pueraria sp.)

www.jjanthony.com

www.nap.edu

www.biology.usgs.gov

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Carianne Funicelli

Non-Native Invasive Plants…

How did they get to the Sonoran Desert?

1998

2005

By Accident…

Sahara mustard (Brassica

tournefortii)

Images from this slide graciously stolen from Mark Dimmit, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

On Purpose…

Michael Chamberland

Travis Bean

Lehmann’s lovegrass (Eragrostis

lehmanniana)

Tamarisk or Salt Cedar (Tamarix spp.)

Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)

Cave Creek Complex Fire, July 2005243,310 acres burned

IMPACTS of INVASIVES

•FIRE

•Crowding out of native vegetation

•Sense of place, economic values

Saguaros & other

desert plants and

animals are not

fire-adapted

Slide from Saguaro National Park

•http://www.buffelgrass.org

•http://ai.desertmuseum.org/invaders

•http://wwwpaztcn.wr.usgs.gov/buffelgrass

For more information about buffelgrass:

Ornamental introductions can be

a source of invasives…

Residential landscaping decisions can be on the

frontline of defense

B

15 16

141211

A10

7

9 4

WinterAnnuals

Experim

ental Plots

sewer

line

Saguaroplot

Saguaroplot

Saguaroplot

Saguaroplot

Win

ter

annu

als

Blue paloverde

Riparian studyBuffelgrass/

paloverdeHistoricpermanentplots

Creosote/

soil study

Plant community/scaling study

Common SchoolTrust Land-320 acres

The Desert Laboratory on The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc HillTumamoc Hill

Two decades of change in distribution,

frequency, and richness of

exotic plants

J. E. Bowers1, T. M. Bean2, and R. M. Turner1

The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill

1U. S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division

2University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources

African sumac

invading from adjacent

neighborhoods

Silvercroft Wash

TAKE HOME MESSAGES

1. Proportion of ornamental exotics doubled in 22 years as they spread from the nearby housing developments.

2. Longer a species is present, the more likely it will become invasive

Natural areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable to urban landscaping

Grow Native! Don’t Plant a

Pest• Identify ornamental plant species that are invasive in southeastern Arizona wildlands

• Present native alternative species (alterNATIVES)

Featured invasive ornamentals were chosen based on:known impacts to wildlands

transparent scientific assessments

use in southeastern Arizona landscapes

Featured AlterNATIVES were chosen based on:

Current availability in the nursery trade

Similar in:– Appearance– Function– Life history

Some species of concern

Carianne Funicelli

Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum)

Nancy Zierenberg Carianne Funicelli

In a yard… In Sabino Canyon

How did the fountain grass get to this wash and

hillside?

Carianne Funicelli

What about PURPLE fountain

grass? Isn’t it safe?

www.moplants.com

Mountain States Nursery

Desert spoonAlterNATIVE Suggestions

Arizona cottontop

Photos from Pima County Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners

Desert milkweed

(Asclepias subulata)

Giant reed

(Arundo donax)

Carianne Funicelli

Arizona rosewood

(Vauquelina californica)

African Sumac (Rhus lancea)

Carianne Funicelli

Seedlings galore…

AlterNATIVE SuggestionsVelvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina)

Sugar sumac (Rhus ovata)

Arizona rosewood (Vauquelina californica)

Photos from Mountain States Nursery

Vinca or Periwinkle (Vinca major)

Vinca invasion in

Ramsey Canyon

AlterNATIVE Suggestions:

Goodding verbena

(Glandularia gooddingii)

Desert four o’clock (Mirabilis multiflora)

Desert Snow (Plumbago scandens)

Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon)

Dennis Caldwell

AlterNATIVE Suggestions:

•pea gravel

•native grasses

•cactus gardens

•artificial turf

•wildflower carpetsGrama grass (Bouteloua sp.)

Some Species Not Featured in the

Brochure…

African daisies (Dimorphotheca

sinuata)

AlterNATIVE Suggestion:

Arizona Daily Star

Carianne Funicelli

Mexican gold poppies

(Escholtzia mexicana)

Yellow bird of paradise (Caesalpinia gillesii)

Mountain States Nursery

Baby bonnets

(Coursetia glandulosa)

Carianne Funicelli

www.fireflyforest.com

Hopbush(Dodonea viscosa)

Feathery cassia/senna

(Senna artemisioides)

Photo from George and Audrey

DeLange

Shrubby senna (Senna

wislizenii)

Carianne Funicelli

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis)

Photo from Pima County Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners

Shoestring acacia (Acacia

stenophylla)

Mountain States Nursery

Palo Blanco (Acacia

willardiana)

Thomas Parks

www.arboretum.campus.edu

Have you noticed a pattern?

What can you do?

Carianne Funicelli

PLANT NATIVE!

Carianne Funicelli

Keep it native in your BACKYARD PONDS!

Remove invasives from your yard so natives can

thrive

Carianne Funicelli

Talk to your neighbors and HOA

Carianne Funicelli

Ask your favorite nurseries to expand their selection of native

species

Carianne Funicelli

Learn more! Join the Arizona Native Plant

Society!

Carianne Funicelli

Thank you to our SPONSORS!