Notable Recoveries

Louisville Loop (in the woods between Shawnee Golf Course and the Ohio River) flooding has deposited enough Japanese chaff flower seeds that when I first saw the dormant infestation on Christmas 2011, it had grown to 4 continuous acres of mono culture completely suppressing any other herbs or grasses, in Cottonwood, sandbar willow woods with Indigo bush and button bush. The plant sticks to one's clothing at least as bad as field parsley or beggar's ticks, and as such could easily infest a new corner of the county during a long bicycle ride. 

In 2008, Japanese stilt grass (Microstegium vimineum) had been found at only one location and thought to be eradicated on the Baringer Multiuse Path, before it spread a couple miles away to the sinkholes of Barrett Hill Rd. by Chauffeur's Rest, presumably spreading in tractor tires or boots into the nearby park lawn. 

In the last five years, climbing yam (Dioscorea oppositifolia) has spread from its initial discovery site with combined sewer overflow flooding, as roadside penny cress has also spread quickly across riparian zones and moist woods near the creek to encompass multiple acres previously dominated by other exotic species prior to initial clearing. 

Josh Wysor is a partly self-trained botanist working as a horticulturalist for Jefferson Memorial Forest with Louisville Metro Parks Natural Areas Division, who formerly worked in the Olmsted Parks of Louisville for Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 2008 to 2010.