Our favorite wild mushrooms are about to emerge from the warming soil. A brief window of time opens and the hunt is on in our woodlands for the most numerous and the heftiest of morels. Bragging rights are encouraged.

Another sure sign that spring has overtaken winter? Asian bush honeysuckles. The leaves of this shrub, along with exotics autumn olive and Multiflora rose, emerge earlier than those of our desirable native shrubs - spicebush, maple leaf viburnum, sumac and common hydrangea. This early greening is a useful way to detect and identify one of the non-native, invasive plant species that spreads along our roadsides, riverbanks - and into our forests.

How are morels and bush honeysuckles connected? As the extent of one expands, the other declines. If stands of bush honeysuckles are allowed to grow unchecked, their territory unimpeded, they will eventually eliminate the presence of one of our favorite wild foods, along with everything else that grows on the forest floor. Bush honeysuckles grow as high as fifteen-feet tall and equally wide with multiple, arching stems. Given time, they make it nearly impossible to enter the woods other than on hands and knees, as they often form a dense thicket. In addition, they decrease light, deplete soil of moisture and nutrients and may release toxic chemicals and thus prevent other plant species from germinating.

Hello Asian bush honeysuckles! Goodbye native wildflowers, grasses, sedges, understory shrubs, tree seedlings - and mushrooms. Proof is near and can be found in our own as well as in many of our region’s counties.

If you’re not a lover of mushrooms, how about birds? There are higher rates of nest predation among birds nesting in bush honeysuckles than in native shrubs. Because there’s no foliage on the inner parts of branches, there’s greater visibility of nests from the ground. Nice for raccoons; devastating for birds

Several species fall under the category of Asian bush honeysuckles. Their paired, smooth-edged, oblong leaves are opposite one another. The generally white to yellow flowers appear in late spring to early summer and the orange to bright red fruits ripen in late summer and early fall at the base of the leaves. The abundant fruits are dispersed by birds and other animals; the seeds within the fruits are long-lived in the soil.

A good clue to proper identification is found in the stems. Cut or break one and you’ll find that it’s hollow.

These shrubs, which grow naturally in Eurasia, were introduced deliberately in the 1700s and 1800s as ornamentals and, mistakenly, to benefit wildlife, particularly birds. The fruits of exotic bush honeysuckles, while abundant and rich in carbohydrates, do not offer migrating birds the high-fat, nutrient-rich food sources needed for long flights that are supplied by native plant species such as dogwoods and spicebush.

The easiest method of control is to spot the plants where they’re young; the shallow root systems easily gives way to a good tug or pull. In shaded forest habitats, where exotic bush honeysuckles tend to be less resilient, repeated clippings to ground level, during the growing season, may result in high mortality. A word of caution: clipping must be repeated at least once yearly because bush honeysuckles that are cut only once and left to grow will often form stands that are more dense and productive than they were before cutting. When applying systemic herbicides, such as glyphosate (e.g., Roundup) use them judiciously. When treating well-established stands, it’s probably best to cut stems to ground level and paint or spray the cut stumps.

One excellent place to see stands of Asian bush honeysuckle is the “T” formed by Old SR 46 and Snyder Road. It’s also prevalent along sections of Clay Lick Road.

If you would like a free survey to help identify invasive plant species, contact Ruth Ann Ingraham, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call The Nature Conservancy, 988-0246.