Jennifer - Huron Pines

You got it, looks like pokeweed! -Jennifer

Hi Sigrid, It's definitely not phragmites, but it looks like a variety of Miscanthus sinensis, which is also known as Chinese or Japanese silvergrass like you guessed. Here's a pretty extensive info page about it: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/missin/all.html It seems like some varieties are more aggressive than others, so it's hard to know what this one will do. I haven't been able to find any reports of it being invasive in Michigan although it's reported to be aggressive at least and invasive in other parts of the country and judging from the size of that patch it's pretty happy there. My recommendation would be to look for new patches in the area for proof of spreading and then let the landowner decide if they want to remove what's there or just keep an eye on it. Good luck! -Jennifer NEMI CWMA

Hi Shelby, My first guess would be something like carolina geranium, which is an ag and turf weed that would fit your site conditions and area. Hopefully someone else will jump in quickly if I'm wrong! Here's a short website on it: https://blogs.msucares.com/turfgrass/2014/05/01/weed-of-the-week-carolina-geranium/ and there are lots of others, mostly recommending mowing and herbicide or strengthening the turf grass it might be growing in. It looks like you have a lot, so herbicide may be the way to go unless you are able to put more resources into mowing and heavy planting (it sounds like it's not very competitive with grasses if they're growing densely enough). Good luck! Jennifer Muladore Northeast MI CWMA

Welcome to the forum thread for the Northeast MI Cooperative Weed Management Area! We have a lot of projects on the slate for 2016 and we hope to have some great discussions with landowners and partners in this space. The CWMA is coordinated by Huron Pines, a nonprofit organization based in Gaylord. This year's staff team includes Jennifer Muladore, Ecologist and Melissa Buzzard, Habitat Specialist--with assistance from our AmeriCorps members in our office and at other sites around the state. We're still developing our new web page at www.huronpines.org/invasives but we do have an active Facebook page. Please feel free to use this space to ask us about our priority species, treatment techniques, and places we're working. We look forward to a great year of invasive species management and outreach in Northeast Michigan! Jennifer and Melissa