{"id":316,"date":"2013-10-29T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T06:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikemacdonald.com\/blog\/?p=316"},"modified":"2014-02-26T14:29:40","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T20:29:40","slug":"monsters-in-our-midst-alien-plant-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/monsters-in-our-midst-alien-plant-species\/","title":{"rendered":"The Monsters in Our Midst"},"content":{"rendered":"<dl class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" id=\"attachment_146\" style=\"width: 380px;\">\n<dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-77\" style=\"width: 369px;\" title=\"Along this tranquil autumn stream at Black Partridge Woods, monsters hide in plain sight. Copyright 2012 Mike MacDonald Photography, Inc.\u2014All Rights Reserved. Please contact Mike MacDonald Photography for Legal Permission to use this image or text.\" alt=\"Along this tranquil autumn stream at Black Partridge Woods,monsters hide in plain sight. Copyright 2012 Mike MacDonald Photography, Inc.\u2014All Rights Reserved. Please contact Mike MacDonald Photography for Legal Permission to use image or text.\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Partridge-Woods-Autumn-121017-0020-00-600px-sRGB-Copyright.jpg?resize=354%2C541\" width=\"354\" height=\"541\" \/><\/dt>\n<dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">Along this tranquil autumn stream, monsters lurk in plain sight.<br \/>\nLocation: Black Partridge Woods, Lemont, Illinois<br \/>\nForest Preserve District of Cook County<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p align=\"left\">At Black Partridge Woods, invisible raindrops plummet from the gray onto a canopy of yellow sugar maples, dislodging turning leaves from their tentative grasps and sending them into a lighthearted aerial choreography destined for the moving stream, where the water ride begins. Here, leaves are taken on a winding, whirling adventure, following the will and whim of the fickle current, gliding with ease around branches and rocks, then twirling, as the tip of a lobe glances the side of a mossy stone. Sometimes they&#8217;re snagged by twigs, as if nabbed from the shore by the out-stretched arms of rescue workers. Many seem to come to rest with others of their kind, wedged against a rock in an angular heap like a jumbled pile of playing cards. And happily, a few flow over my boots and between my legs as I crouch in the middle of this rocky stream, where meditative music of the cascades flood the sweet autumn air. All is a dream. But, this being the season of Halloween, a nightmare lies in wait. A demon hides in plain sight.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">&#8220;La, la-la, la-la!&#8221; we sing, as we frolic through a grove or a field of flowers, oblivious to the monsters that lurk: the alien plant species. No, they are not pursuing you. (Or are they?) I mean, heck, they&#8217;re just plants, what harm can they do, right? A lot, it turns out, as fatal as a murderous scene from a horror flick, except that the stranglehold takes place over years, decades. Ignored, incognito, and beautiful to the eye, the aliens creep. But, their beauty is only chlorophyll deep. Slowly, diabolically, they take control and annihilate our native species, severing the fragile filaments that make up the web of life. Sound bad? Well, that&#8217;s what will happen in this wonderful place, if we ignore the monsters in our midst.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">After years of photographing local nature, I&#8217;m still not privy to every Franken-plant. Yet, I suspected something sinister, knowing that autumn gives warning by revealing a horror in hiding: European buckthorn, with foliage that remains green deep into the fall. Along the roads, neighborhoods, and natural areas, it stands apart from the golds, burgundies, and browns. Buckthorn seems to be everywhere, providing a sobering realization of how badly our preserves have been infested and the work that remains.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the picture, the distant greenery is not buckthorn. I checked before I shot it. Afterwards, though, haunted by the green monsters of the fall, I got an eerie feeling. If change is the message of the season, then it&#8217;s possible that other aliens did not received the memo either. I called the steward of the site and my fears were confirmed. The shrub you see is that of another demon, as vicious as buckthorn, and one that, up until that point, was unknown to me, the alien Japanese honeysuckle.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">So now I know and so do you, but beware. Complacency is the most dangerous monster of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Along this tranquil autumn stream, monsters lurk in plain sight. Location: Black Partridge Woods, Lemont, Illinois Forest Preserve District of Cook County At Black Partridge Woods, invisible raindrops plummet from the gray onto a canopy of yellow sugar maples, dislodging &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/monsters-in-our-midst-alien-plant-species\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[69,68,231,77,212,67],"tags":[175,237,12,54,14],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity-nature","category-chicago-nature","category-illinois-cook-county-nature","category-ecological-restoration","category-illinois-nature-photography","category-nature","tag-alien-plant-species","tag-autumn-photography","tag-black-partridge-woods","tag-forest-preserve-district-of-cook-county","tag-invasive-species"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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oblivious to the monsters that lurk: the alien plant species hiding in plain sight.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/monsters-in-our-midst-alien-plant-species\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Heart of Nature\u2122 by Mike MacDonald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChicagoNature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-29T06:01:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-26T20:29:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Partridge-Woods-Autumn-121017-0020-00-600px-sRGB-Copyright.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike 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For me, the beginning of spring does not arrive in a fanfare of color. Rather, it begins subtly, when sometime in March, speckled maroon and yellow spathes\u00a0of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) quietly emerge from beneath a layer of snow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Biodiversity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Biodiversity","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/nature\/biodiversity-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frazil ice formed during the frigid night on the surface of Sawmill Creek at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in DuPage County, Illinois. \u00a92013 Mike MacDonald Photography\u2014All Rights Reserved. Please Contact Mike MacDonald for permission to use this or any image.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Ice-130122-0010-00-FINAL-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=400%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/landscape-photography-transcendental-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":316,"position":1},"title":"Transcendental Light &#038; The Art of Landscape Photography","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On this typical May morning, along a bluff at Black Partridge Woods, transcendental rays of new-day light\u00a0fleck the verdant floor and streak across serpentine waves of woodland phlox, casting\u00a0the divine onto this springtime panorama. Thirty\u00a0minutes earlier, though, only flat blue\u00a0shade from the open sky illuminated the landscape. Editorially and visually,\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chicago Nature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"In the art of landscape photography, light can have a transcendental effect. Here at Black Partridge Woods, woodland phlox spread in a serpentine wave across the bluff, as streaks of morning light dramatically and ethereally transform matter. \u00a92013 Mike MacDonald Photography, Inc.\u2014ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please contact Mike MacDonald for permission to use this or any image.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Partridge-Woods-0370-600px-Copyright1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":737,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/winter-poem-stop-and-look-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":316,"position":2},"title":"Stop and Look Up: A Winter Daydream","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Stop and Look Up Sun and snow on the trail, slip-sliding with ease, Stop and look up, see the lace in the trees. Take your mind off the cold, as your fingers they freeze, Stop and look up, see the lace in the trees. Forget your life problems, in all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chicago Nature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The dream of winter can, at least for a moment, take you to another place, away from the worries of the world. Maybe, it's a journey to an enchanted kingdom or a fairy tale of old oak matriarchs, who, throughout the night, donned the falling snow, so that in the glow of the morning sun they would, for at least a time, be restored to their golden youth, transformed into young and shining maidens of lace. Spears Woods in Willow Springs, Illinois. Forest Preserve District of Cook County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Oak-Snow_Ice-0020-crop-600px-Copyright.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Oak-Snow_Ice-0020-crop-600px-Copyright.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Oak-Snow_Ice-0020-crop-600px-Copyright.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/new-nature-photography-blog-the-heart-of-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":316,"position":3},"title":"New Nature Photography Blog: A Celebration of Biodiversity &#038; The Art of Nature Photography","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"January 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a new day and a\u00a0new year,\u00a0and with\u00a0them\u00a0come\u00a0a fresh new resource, a nature photography blog\u00a0that speaks to\u00a0the avid photographer\u00a0and the\u00a0lover of nature. I call it: The Heart of Nature. The purpose of this blog\u00a0is to share my insights about photography and my\u00a0explorations in the wilds of Chicago. It's a celebration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Biodiversity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Biodiversity","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/nature\/biodiversity-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The morning sun peaks above the horizon to illuminate a large display of Foxglove Beardtongue at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois. \u00a92007 Mike MacDonald Photography\u2014All Rights Reserved","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Tender-Kiss-of-Light-600px-Copyright.jpg?fit=600%2C439&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1190,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/photography-lessons-tips\/nature-photography-lessons\/bunnys-view-of-springtime-woodland\/","url_meta":{"origin":316,"position":4},"title":"A Bunny&#8217;s View of a Springtime Woodland","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"November 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In the woodlands of early May, shy waxy white blossoms of mayapples hide under their umbrella-like foliage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chicago Nature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An intimate view from underneath a miniature forest of mayapples in the woodland known as Raccoon Grove Nature Preserve in Monee, Illinois.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Raccoon-Grove-240506-0010-FS-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C959&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Raccoon-Grove-240506-0010-FS-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C959&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Raccoon-Grove-240506-0010-FS-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C959&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Raccoon-Grove-240506-0010-FS-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C959&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Raccoon-Grove-240506-0010-FS-2000px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=1200%2C959&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1071,"url":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/nature\/the-extraordinary-in-the-ordinary\/","url_meta":{"origin":316,"position":5},"title":"The Extraordinary in the &#8220;Ordinary&#8221;","author":"Mike MacDonald","date":"February 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Extraordinary in the \"Ordinary\" I am both haunted and fascinated by a phrase that's often used to praise and describe my work. It all came to a head one day after I performed my one-man show about Chicago nature. Three audience members separately visited me at my book-signing table\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chicago Nature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chicago Nature","link":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/category\/illinois-nature-photography\/chicago-nature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The winter sun warms the oak savanna on the kame at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bluff-Spring-Fen-Snow_Ice-220125-0010-FS-FINAL-800px-copyright-sRGB.jpg?fit=582%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions\/886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicagonature.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}