Rolandvue, 1st Week of September: Mile-a-Minute vine,Greenbriar, Wisteria

Mile-A-Minute vine (Periscaria perfoliata) or Tearthumb can ruin a good hike.  Do you backtrack along the gorge for a couple of miles or plow on through a couple of acres of Tearthumb. In hindsight, backtracking would have been better.  The photos are from the middle of Cloverlea, a vine not seen last year and possibly spread by birds.  It is beginning to seed.  Hold on while I stop being the neutral reporter, put on heavy gloves and go pull it up.

That's better.

It is another asian invasive arriving in York Pa with a shipment of hollys in the early 1930s. Now it is spread widely in the Mid-Atlantic.  It smothers the native vegetation, climbs with the sharp hooks on the leaves and the stems, and spreads with copious seeds.  The leaves are triangular, alternate, and join the stem with ocreae, a characteristic of the vine.  It prefers edgess and disturbed areas as here on Cloverlea. There is a possible biological control not yet proven, so thick gloves and pulling, before the seeds appear.

tearthumb seeds,spread by birds and small animals

triangular leaves of tearthumb

closeer view of the thorns and the ocreae

Greenbriar(smilax sp) is a native vine also with sharp barbs or thorns.  Another plant with ambivalent character, the thick mats provide cover for animals, the leaves are commonly browsed.  The berries are food for numerous bird species.  The thick mats cut down on diversity and the thorns can be a barrier.  The photo is from Lake Roland but it extends up along Towson Run.  I have tried eating the tender shoots raw in the spring and early summer. The young leaves can be used raw in salads, but not personally tested.

Wisteria is another vine encountered along the trail but probably escaped from cultivation.
This vine was at the top of Rolandvue.  Wisteria can be aggressive.  Foraging is as always cautious, making fritters from the flowers is suggested.  Some parts of the plant are toxic. Did not see the flowers this year.