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I am a little native plant as pretty as can be
I have been here for a thousands of years giving homes to the birds and bees.
I’ll put a stop to that!
Oh! No! Who are you?
People brought me over, They call me Dr. Rhamnus somebody Buckthorn and some day and I will take over America
I will invade every woodland and every prairie in all of Lake County! Oh No!
You can’t do that! All of our animals will lose all their homes and food!
What are you planning on doing to us?
First, I will stop you from growing in any place I want.
ah choooo! ah choooo![sneezing] what is that?
Those are my allelopathogens!
huh? Allelowhatty? Repeat after me. [Audience] Allelo patho gens
Allelopathogens, they are .... wait
I know what those are, allelopathogens are chemicals that plants, like you, put off to discourage plants, like me, from coming near you.
Exactly! Only me and my fellow invasive plants have them. Wait a second.There are some native plants
They are allelopathic too. Oh Yeh! But they are not as evil as me.
Silly little plant, chemicals are not my only defense!
Yeah right, you were so wrong about allelopathic plants I just don't know if I can take you seriously anymore.
You say that now but just wait until spring! I grow quicker and taller than you or anyone in your family.
Excuse me, I am in the sunflower family and my cousin helianthus, tall sunflower, is a tallest flower ever.
hahahahha! you are just so naïve. I am a shrub and more powerful than any puny little flower
When I grow in a dense cluster I can completely shade you out from the sun.
But what will I do without the sun?
Exactly! But I have a lot of seeds! That has to count for something! Right?
Nope, it doesn’t. You know why? Don’t bother guessing. I’ll tell you why.
[people laugh] It’s because weedy plants, such as myself, will always have more seeds than you native plants.
On just one of my branches I could have over 90 berries!
And those seeds can grow in the sun or in the shade. You see, I’m quite versatile. But but
AND… I Igrow whole 2 months longer than you. And birdies help spreading my seeds
Why would they do such a thing? I thought the birds were my friends.
They can’t help it. You see, my berries make them poop so the seeds spread really quickly.
My berries are so grand that they eat more and more and more and they go again and again and again
But the animals love me too. I have been a major part of their lives since they were born
unlike you! You just came into my neighborhood acting like you own the place.
Umm duh. I’m an invasive. That’s what I do.
You can’t just come in here and ruin our lives. These animals need us native plants for everything
Like the monarch butterfly, whose babies eat only Milkweed, or Golden Rod midge who only lay eggs on Goldenrod
Oh! boo! My goal is to take over the Lake County. I don't care who do I hurt on my way to the top. You can't be a plant
and not care about all the other animals. You are so selfish.
Do you think I care? I’m an invasive. I take your sun. I take your food. I take your space and I take your water too.
You know what that mens? Yes, actually, I do know what that means
that means that us native plants can’t grow because you are taking all our resources.
Well, that's true but there is more. More? Because of our plan, number of different kinds of plants and animals of the land goes waaaaaaaaaaay down.
But without that diversity all the animals will go somewhere else
look for places with more food and more flowers
Yep! Just part of my plan to take over the world and their is nothing you can do to stop me.
Ok, may be there is nothing I can do. You see all these people right there, they like me better
They are going to help me stop you. Is that really true that you really like that native plant than me?
[audience] Yeh! Yeh! Yes, Yes, and you like me better than stinky buckthorn
Put your hands over your head and wiggle your fingers. {audience cheer]
Just how do they plan stoping me? It’s called restoration and it’s the process of getting rid of you and all the other invasive plants.
There’s no way that these few people here could possibly stop me from taking over..
Well, may be not these people. But they can join 100s of volunteers at Lake County Forest Preserves
They will go out every weekend in a woodland near you and they will restore it.
I’ve heard of them, but I’m not shakin in my roots just yet. well, You should be.
and what just is the schema master plan they have? Oh! it's not evil. They just get rid of all invasive species by cutting them
putting herbicide on them and then burning the area just like the natural fires have been doing for thousands of years
Do you mean f f fire? Oh yes, fire is an important part of any restoration
But they won't burn the entire woodland. Would they: Oh! yes, they will
See us native plants can survive fire. We love it. Hahahaha!
[Audience laugh] Oh! Fire. My one weakness. Ha. Not so tough any more. Are we? Get out of my woods.
Hahahaha! [audience laugh]