(Chelsea Update would like to thank Shikha Singh for the information and photo in this story.)
In early October 2020, Michigan’s first known infestation of mile-a-minute weed was discovered by Dr. Doug White at Albion College’s Whitehouse Nature Center.
This fast-growing vine is considered invasive and is listed on Michigan’s invasive species watch list. Invasive species are those that are not native and whose introduction causes harm, or are likely to cause harm, to the economy, environment, or human health.
The Jackson Lenawee Washtenaw Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (JLW CISMA) is urging landowners and managers, especially Christmas tree farms and orchards, to be on the lookout for this vine that can suppress tree and plant seedlings by growing over plants and preventing photosynthesis from occurring.
Mile-a-minute weed, also known as Asiatic tearthumb, is an annual, herbaceous vine with alternate triangle-shaped leaves, recurved barbs on the stems and undersides of leaves, and small white flowers with blue fruits in terminal clusters. Each vine can produce up to 3,500 seeds which are easily spread via wildlife, wind, and water, allowing it to spread quickly and far away. It prefers open and disturbed areas but can also be found in wetlands, along stream banks and roads.
Mile-a-minute’s native range extends from Eastern Russia to Southern India and the Philippines. The first established population in the United States was found in Pennsylvania in the 1930s and is thought to have been brought over via contaminated nursery stock.
Mile-a-minute weed has not yet been found in Jackson; however, the newly found infestation in Albion is near the border of Jackson County, increasing the risk it may spread.
Please contact JLW CISMA Coordinator Shikha Singh or report sightings to the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) online reporting tool (www.misin.msu.edu).
