Fig Buttercup (Ficaria verna) is an herbaceous invasive plant native to Europe, N. Africa & West Asia that is aggressively colonizing floodplain and streamside natural ecosystems in many areas of Eastern North America including the Carolinas. The aggressive nature of this plant disrupts natural ecosystems by displacing existing native spring wildflowers and native plant communities. In the home landscape, Fig Buttercup is a problematic spring weed that can take over home lawns and plant beds, from where it easily spreads into drainage ways leading to nearby streams and floodplains.

In this presentation Johnny will describe the efforts of the North Carolina Invasive Plant Council sponsored Ficaria task force and their strategy to conduct extensive on-the-ground inventory, construction of a comprehensive location and infestation density dataset in the Triangle region, landowner outreach methods, GIS data and mapping applications, and site treatment coordination.