PEST STATUS OF WEED Nature of Damage

annual or perennial vine of Asian origin that infests nurseries, orchards, openings in forested areas, road-sides, and drainage ditches in the eastern United States. In natural areas, the plant displaces native veg-etation. Economic damage. This weed is a particular threat to forest regeneration (Stanosz and Jackson, 1991). In commercial forest areas where mile-a-minute weed has affected regeneration, costs rang-ing from about $60 to 500/ha are incurred for site preparation, weed management (e.g., herbicides, burning), and labor to replant seedlings (Charles Brown, pers. comm.). Unfortunately, in both com-mercial and natural regeneration areas, this weed is difficult to control with a single herbicide applica-tion due to prolonged persistence of seeds in the soil. Seeds are able to survive in the soil and germinate after as long as four years (Johnson, 1996; McCormic, pers. comm.). Also, seeds can germinate over a wide temperature range (4.4 to 20oC) after at least nine weeks of cold-wet stratification at 2oC (McCormick and Johnson, 1997). Plants growing along forest edges near regeneration areas are potential sources of seed (McCormick and Johnson, 1997). Mile-a-minute weed can invade apple orchards (Moul, 1948) an