Have you seen this plant - Leatherleaf Mahonia?

Last week, I led a weed removal work day for folks from the Marriott Corporation.  We worked off of Little Falls Parkway and got a lot done.  (See our Facebook page for pictures).  I was working with Frank Sanford, another weed warrior supervisor, and we came across a plant neither of us knew - pretty holly like plant with really flat compound leaves.   Yesterday, with the help of another weed warrior, I IDed it.  It's Leatherleaf Mahonia  and wouldn't you know it - there's an invasive alert out for it from the National Park Service.  It's been identified as a potential threat in Montgomery County and other parts of Maryland.

This just points to why we need to keep focusing on natives.  We never know when a perfectly good landscaping plant will go rogue.  This was the case for non-native bush honeysuckle.  It was a great landscaping plant for some 80 years until the climate changed, or something changed and it escaped into the forest where it has taken over. 

Hopefully we can nip a full scale invasion of Leatherleaf Mahonia in the bud (so to speak).  So much work to do!