Senecio vulgaris Rumex acetosella Groundsel Trifolium repens Field SorrelCerastium fontanum Dutch Clover Big Chickweed Agrostis gigantea Redtop
Agrostis capillaris Browntop
Bromus tectorum
Hydrilla verticillata Hydrilla Celastrus orbiculatus
Cheatgrass
Bittersweet
Kudzu
English Ivy
Australian Melaleuca
Polygonum cuspidatum Japanese Knotweed
Paulownia Tomentosa
Princesstree
Dioscorea bulbifera Air Potato
Camphor Tree
White Lead Tree
Giant Cane
Cyperus rotundus Setaria Nut Grass verticillata Agave Bristly Foxtail
americana Solanum viarum American
Ulex europaeus
Kahili Ginger Lily Giant Cane
Agave
Ambrosia artemisiifolia Annual Ragweed Bromus tectorum Cheat Grass
Australian Blackwood
Kariba Weed
Eichhornia crassipes
Castor Oil Bermuda Grass Plant Acacia longifolia Melia azedarach Golden Wattle Chinaberry helix Arundo donax Hedera Common Ivy Arundo Grass
Gorse
Populus alba Hedychium Silver Poplar gardnerianum Arundo donax
Leucaena leucocephala Salvinia molesta
Arundo donax Ricinus Cynodon communis dactylon
Tropical Soda Apple
Tradescantia fluminensis Cogon Grass Spiderwort Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp Agrimony Elodea canadensis Crassula helmsii Pondweed Impatiens glandulifera Rhododendron ponticum Swamp Stonecrop Rhododendron Medicago sativa Himalayan Balsam Heracleum mantegazzianum Alfalfa Elaeagnus angustifolia Acacia retinodes Cyperus rotundus Giant Hogweed Water Wattle Nut Grass Fallopia japonica Eichhornia crassipes Vinca major Oleaster Agave americana Sorghum halepense Robinia Japanese Knotweed Water Hyacinth Periwinkle Ricinus communis American Agave Johnson Grass Robinia pseudoacacia pseudoacacia Ambrosia artemisiifolia Castor Oil Plant Acacia farnesiana Lonicera japonica Black Locust Clematis Black Locust Ragweed Imperata cylindrica Needle Bush Honeysuckle Ricinus communis vitalba Carpobrotus Cogon Grass Ambrosia artemisiifolia Castor Oil Plant Old Man’s Beard Eichhornia Solanum viarum edulis Annual Ragweed Tropical Soda Apple Ice Plant crassipes Ricinus Cinnamomum Setaria Water HyacinthLeucaena leucocephala communis camphora Cyperus verticillata Setaria Spartina densiflora Camphor Tree rotundus Bristly Foxtail Dense-Flowered Cordgrass verticillata White Lead Tree Ricinus Alternanthera philoxeroides Nut Grass Sorghum Lythrum salicaria Bristly Foxtail Trapa natans Alligator Weed Eichhornia crassipes halepense Purple Loosestrife Water Caltrop Water Hyacinth Johnson Grass Chromolaena odorata Phragmites australis Cynodon Cirsium Siam Weed Common Reed Cyperus rotundus dactylon arvense Nut Grass Cinnamomum Bermuda Grass Creeping Pistia stratiotes Acacia melanoxylon Thistle camphora Water Cabbage Sydney Green Wattle
Algae
Hedera helix Melaleuca quenquenervia
Imperata cylindrica
Acacia decurrens
Caulerpa taxifolia
Albizia julibrissin Alliaria petiolata Garlic Mustard Elaeagnus Mimosa Eichhornia umbellata Elaeagnus crassipes Autumn Olive Water Hyacinth angustifolia Bromus tectorum Oleaster Euonymus fortunei European cheatgrass Ligustrum japonicum Ailanthus altissima Winter Creeper Polygonum cuspidatum Chinese Privet Tree-of-Heaven Japanese Knotweed Lonicera sp. Centaurea solstitalis Rosa multiflora Honeysuckle Yellow Star Thistle Multiflora Rose Phyllostachys sp. Bamboo Lythrum saliscaria Pueraria montana Purple Loosestrife
Water Hyacinth
Agave americana American Agave
Ageratum conyzoides
Cogon Grass
Lantana camara Wild Sage
Alternanthera philoxeroides
Chick Weed
Imperata cylindrica Ligustrum lucidum
Alligator Weed
Chinese Privet
Poa annua
Annual Meadowgrass
Poa pratensis
Kentucky Bluegrass
Lantana camara
Andropogon gayanus Gamba Grass
Wild Sage
Alternanthera philoxeroides Mimosa pigra Alligator Weed Asparagus africanusGiant Mimosa Climbing Asparagus Opuntia spp.
Ligustrum lucidum
Chinese Privet
Prickly Pear
Melia azedarach China Berry
Verbascum thapsus Common Mullein
transnational shipping routes that redistribute resources over vast territory. And each of these domesticating efforts marks and changes the landscape in some way. Categories of native, non-native, alien, invasive, exotic, and indigenous have been created, inscribed, and normalized, demarcating that which promises to bring change and heightening attitudes of exclusion, extremism, and fear. For instance, Pueraria lobata, or kudzu, was originally introduced to the United States from Japan in 1876 as an ornamental shade plant with fragrant flowers. In the 1930s, it was celebrated, and even subsidized by the U.S. government, as a powerful erosion control species. However, by the 1950s it came to be viewed as a threat, overtaking many landscapes in the Southeastern U.S. Kudzu’s propagation in the U.S. may be considered an ecological disaster, but in its native habitat, cultural uses as a source of fibers, food and medicine have kept the species’ spread under control. By problematizing invasive species and dissecting the sociocultural roots of their categorization, alternative frameworks may evolve whereby ultra-competitive, opportunist species can be appreciated in certain contexts. In fact, such traits may prove to be crucial as the rate of climate change increases and our attempts to dominate and control the plant world are overshadowed by new understandings of domestication, balance, and change. The Edenic and Peaceable Kingdom aesthetics that developed during the Romantic period laid the foundation for our current understanding of “natural” or unmanaged landscapes. They perpetuated myths of balance, diversity, harmony and the absence of human impact, and obscured the reality of competition, disease, dynamism, and continuous adaptation in natural systems.4 I propose that by engaging with dynamic understandings
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fig. 2 World map of invasive species
fig. 3 (facing) Invasive habitat typologies
4 Shahid Naeem, “Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning and the Design of Landscapes,” in Designing Wildlife Habitats, Colloquium on the History of Landscape Architecture, XXXIV, ed. John Beardsley (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2013), 70.