Massachusetts considering ban on JBP.

[Paradox]

This has been discussed before but it's coming up for a public hearing in Massachusetts next month. The state is considering a ban on sales of JBP in the state.

This could effect any of the bonsai nurseries and bonsai hobbiests in the state. The article doesn't mention bonsai. Someone needs to get the word out to the bonsai community in Massachusetts about this.

State considers banning sale of two invasive plant species

MDAR will be holding a public hearing in April about restricting two types of plants from being sold in the state.

www.wwlp.com

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It is interesting that they are targeting JBP. There are so many "invasive" species in the US, they usually target only the most aggressive and/or the ones that have notable negative characteristics.

For example, Bradford Pear (which they are also considering) is horrifically invasive - to the extent that there are some vacant lots down here in NC where Bradford Pear represents 50% of the growth. I have been aggressively removing it from our property and am fortunate that it has not gotten well-established. However several neighbors have large trees in landscape, so they just keep reseeding everywhere.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

That is very strange. I can’t imagine they grow like weeds there. This sounds like an example of someone making a list of invasive species based on how many there are estimated to be, but they didn’t check how much the trees spread naturally without people planting them.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

That is very strange. I can’t imagine they grow like weeds there. This sounds like an example of someone making a list of invasive species based on how many there are estimated to be, but they didn’t check how much the trees spread naturally without people planting them.

JBP was specifically planted along the coast there due to its high salt tolerance. I read that it did well initially, but it has proven to not be as robust as hoped and doesn't have the same weather and pest tolerance of other species. All of which makes me wonder, again, why it is being targeted as "invasive".

 

[rockm]

It is interesting that they are targeting JBP. There are so many "invasive" species in the US, they usually target only the most aggressive and/or the ones that have notable negative characteristics.

For example, Bradford Pear (which they are also considering) is horrifically invasive - to the extent that there are some vacant lots down here in NC where Bradford Pear represents 50% of the growth. I have been aggressively removing it from our property and am fortunate that it has not gotten well-established. However several neighbors have large trees in landscape, so they just keep reseeding everywhere.

One reason is that it's taking over substantial territory on critical sand dune environments all along theNortheastern coast of the U.S., including Cape Cod. It is among the most aggressive species and why it's being addressed (along with callery pear). It's a growing problem from Maine to New Jersey to Va. and even N.C. and S.C. It replaces native species including pitch pine in dry sandy environments because it grows faster. It's also apparently more susceptible to native beetles invasions (turpentine and Southern Pine beetle).--they become beetle sumps that endanger other pine species).

 

[rockm]

That is very strange. I can’t imagine they grow like weeds there. This sounds like an example of someone making a list of invasive species based on how many there are estimated to be, but they didn’t check how much the trees spread naturally without people planting them.

nope. They're an issue up and down the east coast for a few reasons.

 

[rockm]

This is an interesting doc to read through. BTW, Japanese Black Pine is already listed as invasive in Delaware and is on the watch list in R.I. IT's already got a considerable foothold on Long Island as well. That invasive classification could be coming to more Southern states as well, as this species seems to be perfect for the sandy, salty and warmer coastal plain than the rocky N.E. coast.

https://www.mass.gov/doc/pinus-thunbergii-parl-japanese-black-pine/download#:~:text=For%20the%20past%2010%20years,spread%20from%20those%20initial%20plantings

From the doc:

"For the past 10 years in Delaware, P. thunbergii trees were actively removed due to impeded native vegetation. Post World War 2, over 50,000 P. thunbergii trees were planted along the Delaware coast and spread from those initial plantings. Now the trees are being removed in a decades-long project at Cape Henlopen State Park among others (according to local news reports in Delaware: https://www.capegazette.com/article...ese-black-pines-make-room-native-species/6810). In 2009, Rob Line, head of Delaware’s Environmental Stewardship program for the Division of Parks, said aerial surveys show Japanese black pines dominated 30 percent to 40 percent of Delaware’s coastline."

 

[JudyB]

It is interesting that they are targeting JBP. There are so many "invasive" species in the US, they usually target only the most aggressive and/or the ones that have notable negative characteristics.

For example, Bradford Pear (which they are also considering) is horrifically invasive - to the extent that there are some vacant lots down here in NC where Bradford Pear represents 50% of the growth. I have been aggressively removing it from our property and am fortunate that it has not gotten well-established. However several neighbors have large trees in landscape, so they just keep reseeding everywhere.

callory pears and honeysuckle are out of control here.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

That’s all very interesting information thank you for sharing. It seems crazy to me that black pine could be so invasive, but every plant has its niche were it dominates I suppose, otherwise it would not exists.