Why do so many invasive plant species in the United States originate from China?
154634
I do not know, but I can make some guesses. Here might be some contributing factors: \n\n1. China is a country on the water with ports, and except for a period when it was under communist domination and not trading, it has long traded with the rest of the world. Most of this trade is by shipping. This might increase the chance that invasive species will make the trip than a landlocked country, or a country that the US does not trade much with. \n\n2.  There are many invasive species here from Europe, but we are used to them by now (earthworms, honey bees, etc). \n\n3. China is on the Asian landmass, and so its species have already had a lot of exposure to competition from a huge continent. They are toughened up from millions of years of competition, and are fierce competitors for our local species. \n\n4. China's climate is not too different from the US climate, so it is easier for their species to adapt here than species from more tropical places, or places that are markedly different. \n\n5. China has a long history of herbal medicine, and use of its plant species for medical purposes. This might lead them to cultivate and transport plants more readily than some other cultures. Some of these might get away, and compete with local species. \n\n6. China might not have more invasive species per unit area than many other places, but it is so large that it seems that way. \n\nHow is that for a start? I could probably think of more with more time.
594415
Sounds a lot like Ailanthus altissima, the "Tree of Heaven". It is from China and is considered an invasive species, and is common in urban areas of the east. If it is a male tree, it should have a disagreeable odor.
1156545
In general changes to the DNA of a species poses a risk of unexpected results.  Nature is generally in more or less of an equilibrium.  When sudden changes occur that balance can be upset.  Like when new predators are introduced into an area and their prey is wiped out.  Or when a plant is introduced to a new area and spreads uncontrollably.\n\nCreating "new" plants can have the same kind of impact as moving plants around from one part of the world to another.\n\nAdditionally there is some concern that taking DNA from one plant and embedding it in another plant's DNA (e.g. to improve resistance to insects, drought, etc.) could have adverse effects (e.g. producing allergic reactions where none had existed).\n\nThere's no right answer.  As with any technology we have to weigh the total impact (on humans, the environment, etc.).
582106
Just because you have taken the time to get to know the United States doesn't mean you should expect Americans to know China.  Also, speaking as an American, most Americans don't know 40% of Detroit is black etc. \n\nP.S. I actually like a lot of things in Chinese culture, didn't you know one of my actors is Chinese? Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the guy in all the Wong Kar Wai films.
242251
If you want to go to the root problem, (not to be cliche) it's humans. Specifically, the everglades have seen an influx of non native species in recent years that overdominate, overconsume and threaten native species. Exotic and domisticated house pets have been spotted on numerous occasions, certain flowers like the brazilian pepper threaten the soil.
306300
It depends on altitude.  As you enter the Sierra Nevada foothills from the Central Valley of California, it's black oak, scrub oak, and grassess.  A lot of the native grasses have died out in favor of more aggressive introduced grasses.\n\nHigher up, you enter open woodland of pine, cedar, and fir.  Underbrush is mountain lilac, buckbrush, manzanita and madrone.  Some great wildflowers.  See this website for more scientific details!\n\nhttp://www.sfsu.edu/~sierra/flora.htm
185450
I think you said it best first: a weed is just an unwanted plant.\n\nDon't believe that crap about a weed just being a plant we haven't found a use for.\n\nI'm a restoration ecologist and I have seen weeds destroy more biodiversity and habitat than ANY other cause.\n\nEDIT: myrtguy: you usually have good answers on these issues but they may be a little misleading here.  Restoration ecologists do a lot more than just working on areas that humans have made a mess of (though you are right - that is mostly what they do).  It is worth mentioning that you would be hard pressed to find ANY area of land that has not been influenced by humans to one extent or another.\n\nYou are also right about plants in gardens but... Many of our most agressive weeds are plants that have escaped from gardens unintentionally (such as Purple loostrife or Leafy Spurge).  Too many nurserys sell these things to coustomers who transport them all over the U.S. (and the world).
630391
Several reasons.\n\n1) Our crop plants have been bred for the traits of being tasty and having large amounts of energy rich material in their bodies. The wild ancestors of our food crops were almost all much smaller plants and contained large amounts poisons to discourage animals from eating them. We bred them to be larger and to have no toxins so that we could eat them easily. That also makes it easy for insect pests to eat them. However things like carrotweed and onionweed for example still retain the properties of the wild forms of carrots and onions and they are very good (or bad) weeds.\n\n2) Wild plants, even weeds, don't grow in large concentrations. You might only get a patch of wild plants a few metres across, or else the plants will be scattered with only one growing every few metres. That dispersal makes it much harder for insects to find wild plants they want to eat. We plant our crops in high density and high concentration which attracts the attention of insect pests and makes them all the more damaging.\n\n3) We alter the environment of our crop plants by keeping them watered and fertilised, removing competing plants etc. That makes garden beds an ideal growing habitat for ALL plants. In contrast the shady, compacted, dry deficient environments of th natural world will only support a limited number of plant species. What that means is that there are potentially millions of species that will grow in a garden bed if they can get their seeds there. IN contrast very few species will grow in any wild habitat. Simple probability means that we are going to have more weeds in a garden bed.\n\n4) The same act of preparing favourable growing beds for crops means that the crops are healthy and lush. That makes them prime targets for insects.\n\n5) Many food and flower species are also weeds. Olive trees for example are serious weeds in Australia and blackberries are a serious weed in New Zealand. Even more flower species have become weeds. Lantana and tea tree, grown originally for their flowers, have become a serious weeds in Hawaii and Florida respectively. So it's simply not true to say that the plants we want to grow require a lot of care. Many thousands of plants that people wanted to grow have become weeds around the world.
76501
I am from an Asian Country Philippines, many chinese herb are being sold here in the market and many person tell story how effective it is scientifically it is not yet accepted but you can try...to prove. no harm in trying.
24273
Rosa chinensis viridiflora, a chance mutation discovered before 1856, exact origin unknown.  Yes through genetic mutations and also through weird hybrids and gene splitting and techno planting medlings. They are also sometimes just dyed that color
319802
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_immigration_to_the_United_States
428702
There's this weed that had poisonous spiky hairs on the thick stem, and if manhandled, spreads it's seeds really fast and the hairs can cause tumors in the hands. Also really hard to pull up and the root can grow more plants. And it's in the U.S.! Wyoming!
546973
I think they come from China
723829
China towns were originally ghettos and were not created by choice. There have been various exclusionary  laws regarding Chinese settlemnet throughout American HIstory. I don't think today's American China towns serve the same pupose as they did in the past. Immigrants of all stripes tend to gather together. I don't think most Americans dislike China towns. A great place to go out to eat.
325116
China, like many other nations in the world, feel that the USA is an arrogant young power which does not realize that the Chinese civilization has been around for quite a while; thousand of years. So they expect the American government to facilitate the creation of a relationship of mutual respect and above all not to meddle in China's sphere of influence.
231369
Well, djddan, don't know where you got your information ...\nGinkgo trees were first "discovered" by a westerner (a dutchman, in fact) growing in temples at Nagasaki, Japan, in around 1690. They are asian plants, and any of them growing anywhere in the US must be cultivated and cannot possibly date to before the Pilgrims arrived.\nThey might potentially live a long time but I don't think you can count non-native trees.
909922
enjois are china wood too. a lot of decks are produced in the states tho. dunno which ones for sure. just do a search i guess.