Phyllostachys gets reprieve in Long Island

According to the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association, the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area Scientific Review Committee, which evaluates and scores invasive plants, said late last year "No conclusive evidence of escapes from cultivation by Phyllostachys aureosulcata in the Northeastern U.S. could be found. All known occurrences of P. aureosulcata appear to be either remnants of past cultivation or vegetative spread from a planted specimen and it appears unlikely that this would change in the future." Therefore P. aureosulcata must be ranked "Not Assessable" as an invasive plant, the Committee concluded. However it acknowledged "significant impacts that this species may cause in both natural and cultivated areas resulting from aggressive vegetative spread."