Wavyleaf Basketgrass
Hi Invader Detectives!
Summer is just around the corner, but that’s not stopping invasives from taking over. Wavyleaf basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius) is getting ready to flower and we need to be on our toes. Otherwise, they’ll reach ours!
Left: andy71; Right: davidenrique
Wavyleaf basketgrass is a shallow-rooted perennial that grows no longer than 1.5ft (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2022). It has stolons, an above-ground root system, that allows them to easily creep along the surface and create a carpet. Their shallow roots make them easy to pull out, but if doing so, make sure to take the entire plant as they can resprout. Basketgrass leaves are simple, entire, with alternate arrangement and a terminal leaf. The leaves are attached to the stem and while they appear to clasp around the stem, they do not. Looking at andy71’s photo, you can see that it is wavy across the leaf. The leaves will die back in the winter and re-emerge in the spring (University of Maryland, n.d.).
Flowering from August through November, the inflorescence will occur toward along the end of the stem as seen in davidenrique’s photo (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2022). The seeds are super small and sticky. You’ll know you’ve walked through some wavyleaf when you’ve got tons of tiny seeds sticking to you, so check yourselves and your pets as you’re out and about (Spencer, Flessner, & Barney, 2020).
Wavyleaf basketgrass is a shade tolerant species that can be found in full canopy forests, full shadye riparian habitat, and forest edges (University of Maryland, n.d.).
Look alikes
Small carpet grass (Arthraxon hispidus)
Left and right: mefisher
Before seeing real-life wavyleaf, I found some carpet grass while hiking through Rocky Run and took a good 20 minutes comparing it to online wavyleaf photos and descriptions before using Seek that told me in two seconds. I kept trying to convince myself that the carpet grass in front of me was wavyleaf but small enough to be slightly off. Still invasive.
They are both low-growing and creeping grasses, like moist soils, similar leaf shapes and arrangement, and have the ripples across the leaves. The similarities seem intimidating, but here’s where you can tell the difference: the leaves are heart-shaped and short that does clasp around the stem. Carpet grass will choose sunny over shady areas, and flowers from September to November with the flowerhead at the end of the stem (National Parks Service & United States Forest Service, 2010). Take a look at davidenrique’s photo of wavyleaf and compare to mefisher’s carpetgrass photo!
Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum)
Left: craigmartin, right: hb2000 (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Japanese stiltgrass and wavyleaf basketgrass can be confused with each other as they may cohabitate similar areas and have a similar leaf shape. They grow densely wherever you may see them. When differentiating the two, Japanese stiltgrass has a silverish midrib on the leaves that almost looks reflective. Instead of carpeting the surface as basketgrass does, stiltgrass stays upright.
Deer tongue (Dichanthelium clandestinumDichantheleum clandistinum)
Left, gillydilly Right: sanguinaria33 (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Deer toungue is our native grass that is much easier to distinguish from wavyleaf basketgrass. Deer tongue will grow in clumps instead of spreading through stolons. The leaves on deer tongue appear much more intimidating with it’s sharp-looking shape. The base of the leaf clasps around the stem, while basketgrass does not. When deer tongue flowers, it branches out little buds to reveal pink to purple florets.
Tips for making a good observation record of wavyleaf basketgrass
Take photographs that show:
Area where they were found
Infestation/population
An entire stem
if they are flowering, photograph a whole plant including flower head, spikelets, and leaves
if they aren’t flowering yet, photograph a whole, typical, undamaged leaf.
Make comments that:
are explicit about the issue of intentional plant vs weed vs escaped (You’d be surprised but
some parks include intentionally planted alien plants which are now invasive – life is
complicated!)
give a rough estimate of the number of patches and the area covered
any other comments you think might be helpful
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Great post! Thank you for sharing this information @y-aving!
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