Invasive buckthorn is surging in sightings across yards and woods
iNaturalist Community
Invasive Species
If you've noticed a shrub with glossy dark berries and thorny branches crowding out everything else along your fence line or in the woods behind your house, this is likely it, and now is the window to identify and remove it before it seeds.
Common buckthorn is a shrub brought over from Europe that spreads fast and pushes out native trees and wildflowers because almost nothing eats it or keeps it in check here. Right now, hundreds of people are logging sightings of it on a nature app, which means it's fruiting and easy to spot. If you find it on your property, pulling young plants or cutting back mature ones before the berries drop helps stop it from taking over more ground next year.
Key Findings
450 research-grade observations of common buckthorn were logged this week alone
Common buckthorn ranks among the most-observed plant species on iNaturalist currently
High observation volume coincides with the species' visible fruiting period in late summer/early fall
chevron_right Technical Summary
Common buckthorn, an invasive shrub that crowds out native plants, is showing up in huge numbers on iNaturalist this week with 450 verified sightings, signaling it's actively spreading and fruiting right now.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) — 450 observations this week
common buckthorn is among the most observed plant species this week with 450 research-grade observations.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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