We recently posted an alert for false brome grass but Marilyn Jordan from TNC Long Island is also concerned about wavy leaf basketgrass showing up in New York.
Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) P. Beauv. ssp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz
Reported though the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council listserve. According to USDA plants the subspecies is only found in MD, but postings to the ma-eppc listserv indicate it is also in VA and FL. There
may be taxonomic confusion with the species Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) P. Beauv. Wavy leaf basketgrass is more competitive than Japanese stilt grass, and “An ornamental variegated pink, green and white form, sold as O. hirtellus ‘Variegatus’ for hanging baskets (Fig. 11), has spontaneously reverted to an all-green, wavy-leafed, very aggressive form under greenhouse conditions (Pohl 1981; see MD DNR poster).” The
ssp has been sold in CT according to LIISMA SRC member J. Lehrer. Information and photos of the ssp are available at:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/download/wlbg_poster011108.pdf and
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/WLBG/wl_basketgrass_ID.asp