Art Gilman is a botanist and environmental consultant based in Marshfield, with an interest in all things botanical. He is the author of the "New Flora of Vermont" (published by the New York Botanical Garden) which treats all 2200+ plant species that occur in Vermont.
About 1/3 of Vermont plants are non-native. Non-natives range from familiar grasses, wildflowers, and weeds to some rather overwhelmingly successful "invasives." There are many aspects of "invasive" species that are intriguing; due to glacial scouring, Vermont has a relatively poor flora in comparison with non-glaciated areas of similar latitudes in Asia--surely we must have many unfilled habitat niches. Are invasives merely filling those niches, or do they have some special attributes that allow them to compete to the detriment of native species? Recorded Jan 5, 2022.