Another invader

This is Paul Janensch with a Treasure Coast Essay about the Japanese beach vitex.  Is this fast-growing vine from Japan and Korea something else for us to worry about?  Maybe, says Indian River County Coastal Engineer James Gray, who is keeping an eye on outcroppings of the invasive plant on the beach at Castaway Cove.  The Japanese beach vitex – bright green with purple flowers – spreads rapidly under the sand, crowding out native vegetation and endangering the nesting habitat for sea turtles. It was introduced to the Southeastern U.S. to stabilize sand dunes but instead covered them.  The vine is starting to plague Jacksonville beaches.  Up in the Carolinas, the Japanese beach vitex is called “the kudzu of the coast” – a reference to another invasive plant from Asia.  I’m Paul Janensch.