Microstegium vimineum

Japanese stilt grass - A shade-tolerant annual, first seen in Tennessee in 1919, Japanese stilt grass is now found from Florida to Massachusetts, west to Ohio. In New York and Connecticut, it can be seen along the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers, preferring moist, shady habitats such as river banks, floodplains, swamps, and woodland thickets, as well as roadsides. Individual plants can produce more than 100 seeds, quickly replacing other vegetation. Specialized species such as native buttercups cannot compete with this thick-growing, lime-green grass. Sometimes called “Chinese packing grass,” the plant may have been introduced as protective packaging for imported porcelain. [image: (c) New England Wild Flower Society/ Christopher Mattrick]

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