• Home
  • About
    • About ISN & FAQs
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • ISN Board of Directors
    • Employment
    • Enewsletter
    • Blog - Notes from ISN
    • Donate to ISN
  • Events
  • ID & Report
    • Top 12 Species
    • Early Detection Species
    • Awareness Species
    • Other Invasive Species >
      • Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
      • Aquatic Invasive Species
      • Lymantria Moths (gypsy moth)
    • ID and Reporting Tools
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Education
    • Tool Library
    • Garlic Mustard Dumpsters
    • Planting Guide/Ordinance Templates
    • Requests For Bids
    • Treatment Information
    • Other Information
    • Native Plant Seeds
    • Invasive Species in the News >
      • ISN in the News
  • Go Beyond Beauty
    • Find Participants >
      • Nurseries/Garden Centers >
        • Bioconcentric Farms
        • Birdsfoot Native Nursery
        • Black Cap Farms
        • Bright Lane Gardens
        • Garden Goods
        • Greystone Gardens
        • Misty Ridge
        • Pine Hill
      • Landscapers/Professionals >
        • Cre Woodard
        • Cyman Gardens
        • Designs in Bloom
        • Greener Earth Landscaping
        • Heritage Landscape Design
        • Inhabitect, LLC
        • Lakeview Habitats
        • Laurel Voran, LLC
        • The Mossy Tree, LLC
        • Old Mission Associates
        • Inner-Coastal
        • Pine Hill
        • Silverman & Company
        • Sustainable Landscape Design, LLC
        • TruNorth Landscaping
        • Wildlife & Wetland Solutions
      • Community Participants
    • GBB Achievement Program
    • Register >
      • Registration Form (Garden Professional)
      • Registration Form (Individual or other org)
      • Start-up Materials
      • GBB Statewide Inquiries
    • Ornamental Invasive Species
    • Native Plant Species
    • Participant Signs
    • Japanese Barberry Trade-Up Day
    • GBB Resources
  • Contact
habitatmatters.org

Baby's breath (Gysophilia paniculata)
  • See MISIN species profile
  • Introduced from Eurasia as an ornamental
  • Learn more about ISN's efforts in baby's breath treatment
Why is it a problem?
Like other invasive plants in the Top 12 for the region, baby’s breath out-competes native plants and takes over their habitat, while providing no food or habitat for native wildlife.  Baby’s breath is of special concern because it has entered the fragile dune ecosystem at Sleeping Bear Dunes and is threatening native plants like wormwood, broomrape, and the threatened Pitcher’s thistle.  Baby’s breath can carpet an area and be a great disappointment to visitors coming to the dunes expecting to see plants typical of the rare dune ecosystem.  It is also considered to have an unpleasant odor by many.  Once the plant is established, baby’s breath can spread quickly by its many windblown seeds, since there can be up to 13,000 seeds per plant. 
 
What does baby’s breath look like?
Baby’s breath starts out with multiple small stems covered in lance shaped leaves which branch up and out.  This grows into a small shrub that can get up to 4 feet high.  Many tiny, fragrant white flowers bloom in July and August.  Baby’s breath in bloom is very easy to spot from a distance.
 
How do I manage baby’s breath?
Prevent invasions by restoring degraded areas like old fields or roadsides back to a diversity of native plants, which will prevent baby’s breath from forming a monoculture. Be careful if using wildflower mixes, since many still contain baby’s breath.  Control of baby’s breath is most successful early in the spring when the plant’s leaves and tap root are small. Baby’s breath can be dug up as long as the caudex (area where the stem joins the root, approximately 8 inches below the surface) is severed. Baby’s breath can be successfully managed with the application of glyphosate (Roundup) throughout growing season.
Picture
Picture
Report Invasive Species
Picture

Contact US

1450 Cass Road
Traverse City, Michigan 49685
-
(231)941 - 0960
Pleasant Peninsula Design, Habitat Matters 2017 
  • Home
  • About
    • About ISN & FAQs
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • ISN Board of Directors
    • Employment
    • Enewsletter
    • Blog - Notes from ISN
    • Donate to ISN
  • Events
  • ID & Report
    • Top 12 Species
    • Early Detection Species
    • Awareness Species
    • Other Invasive Species >
      • Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
      • Aquatic Invasive Species
      • Lymantria Moths (gypsy moth)
    • ID and Reporting Tools
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Education
    • Tool Library
    • Garlic Mustard Dumpsters
    • Planting Guide/Ordinance Templates
    • Requests For Bids
    • Treatment Information
    • Other Information
    • Native Plant Seeds
    • Invasive Species in the News >
      • ISN in the News
  • Go Beyond Beauty
    • Find Participants >
      • Nurseries/Garden Centers >
        • Bioconcentric Farms
        • Birdsfoot Native Nursery
        • Black Cap Farms
        • Bright Lane Gardens
        • Garden Goods
        • Greystone Gardens
        • Misty Ridge
        • Pine Hill
      • Landscapers/Professionals >
        • Cre Woodard
        • Cyman Gardens
        • Designs in Bloom
        • Greener Earth Landscaping
        • Heritage Landscape Design
        • Inhabitect, LLC
        • Lakeview Habitats
        • Laurel Voran, LLC
        • The Mossy Tree, LLC
        • Old Mission Associates
        • Inner-Coastal
        • Pine Hill
        • Silverman & Company
        • Sustainable Landscape Design, LLC
        • TruNorth Landscaping
        • Wildlife & Wetland Solutions
      • Community Participants
    • GBB Achievement Program
    • Register >
      • Registration Form (Garden Professional)
      • Registration Form (Individual or other org)
      • Start-up Materials
      • GBB Statewide Inquiries
    • Ornamental Invasive Species
    • Native Plant Species
    • Participant Signs
    • Japanese Barberry Trade-Up Day
    • GBB Resources
  • Contact