Do you recognize this plant? If you said "Self-heal" (wrong!), you need to join our Longmire Meadow de-Ajuga-fication Project to learn more about a rapidly spreading NON-NATIVE groundcover commonly sold in garden stores.
Yes, this is Ajuga reptans, aka Bugleweed. Visitors, volunteers and rangers walking along the Trail of the Shadows may have seen it at any time over the last several years and have dismissed it as Self-heal, a native species very similar in appearance. Consequently, Ajuga has spread dramatically, and now is choking out native species in an area covering at least 300 sq. ft. We need you to help us eradicate it.
We have to get it before it sets seed! Soon! Now!
On Wednesday July 6, we will gather on the porch of the Longmire Administration Building (the big stone building) at 9:30 AM. It's a very short walk to the site (about a tenth of a mile). There will be a quick botany briefing to assure that we only remove Ajuga, and then work will proceed on a grid similar to that used at archaeological digs. This will ensure that we get a high percentage of the plants.
It is fairly easy to pull, but many of the plants are tiny, so if you have latex or nitrile gloves, please bring them. For those tougher specimens, we'll have a few dandelion forks on hand. Volunteers should be able to sit on the ground or kneel, so if you have a pad, bring that as well.
Please RSVP to Crow at petrina_vecchio@partner.nps.gov with the number of volunteers you'll be bringing.
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