Invasive plants including bush honeysuckle, white mulberry and perilla mint have found their way across the country — including into Missouri and Illinois — and have caused headaches for homeowners, farmers and conservationists for their rapid growth rate and ability to overtake native flora.
A new book from a St. Louis scientist shows how ridding an area of invasive and nuisance plants does more than help the natural ecosystem. Such practices can also be used for personal gain.
“When you can go out, pick something, cook it and eat it, you feel empowered,” said Wendy Applequist, a Missouri Botanical Garden associate scientist. “You feel skillful.”
Applequist is the co-author and editor of “Love Them to Death: Turning Invasive Plants into Local Economic Opportunity.” She told St. Louis on the Air that she hopes more people explore options to eliminate invasive plants by learning about traditional uses in the plants’ places of origin.
“These plants can have great medicinal benefits, like the perilla mint. There's been a long-term clinical trial of leaf powder for high blood pressure, and since it's a food plant, you know that it's going to be pretty safe,” Applequist said. “But I don't want to encourage people to say, ‘What a wonderful plant perilla is. I should plant it.’”
Many invasive plants were introduced to the United States with the intent to address an issue. The federal government brought the invasive vine kudzu to the country from east Asia to help mitigate land erosion. It has since grown rampant in southern states and has been making its way up north to southern Missouri and southern Illinois.
Luckily, there are plenty of traditional uses for kudzu.
“[Kudzu] root is used as medicine. It's good, among other things, for helping people with alcohol use issues to drink less. The starch from the root is used in Asian cooking as a thickener and the flowers can be used to make a sort of purple jelly,” Applequist said. Kudzu root can even be made into thread, and the stems can be woven into baskets. “Everything except the seed pod, basically, is useful.”
Applequist’s encouragement to explore traditional uses for invasive plants comes with an important mission: Get rid of the invasive plants to bring back the natural ecosystem.
“If you use [invasive plants], maybe you’ll go pull them out more because you’re getting something out of it. But I definitely don’t want you to say, ‘Oh we’ve got to keep this kudzu going,’” she said, because “something else would grow there that was native that you could also use and benefit from.”
For more on “Love Them to Death” — including uses for invasive species you may find in your community like white mulberry and bush honeysuckle — listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
