Crazy Weed Overtakes Connecticut

Weed is taking over Connecticut and it’s not the type you usually find in the garden or at a frat party.

The Department of Environmental Protection wants Connecticut residents' help to deal with a pesky weed known as the "mile-a-minute vine" that’s creeping up in the state.

The real name of the weed is Persicaria perfoliata and it is known by many common names, including: mile-a-minute weed, devil’s tearthumb and Asiatic tearthumb.

But mile-a-minute best conveys what this monster is because, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, it can grow very quickly, as fast as 6 inches per day.

The real problem, according to experts, is that it winds up smothering other native plants. 
 
The vine first showed up in Greenwich in 2000 and has spread like, well a weed, into 15 Connecticut towns and has even crept north into Massachusetts.

Scientists at the University of Connecticut want you to help by letting them know when you spot the "Kudzu of the North" because this plant is popping up on private property and it would take lots of time and money for state employees to go door-to-door looking for new plant populations, Logan Senack, CT Invasive Plant Coordinator, said in an e-mail.

If you spot the weed, the DEP wants to know.

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