Beefsteak plant
Perilla frutescens L. (Britt.)

SOURCE: The following description was taken from Rhoads and Block, The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual, 2000. Images were taken from www.invasive.org and plants.usda.gov.

DESCRIPTION: Beefsteak plant is an herbaceous annual that invades a variety of habitats. It has been introduced as a cultivated plant and used medicinally. The plant can reach heights of 10-40 cm. Leaves are egg-shaped, 8-15 cm and generally purple underneath. Flowers are small, purplish to white and paired along the spike-like inflorescence.

Photo: Jil M. Swearingen, USDI National Park Service, www.forestryimages.org.

Photo: Douglas Ladd @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA SCS. 1989. Midwest wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. Midwest National Technical Center, Lincoln, NE.

For more information on beefsteak plant, please contact:
Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council, http://www.ma-eppc.org/
National Invasive Species Information Center, http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov
The Bugwood Network, MA-EPPC Plant List, http://www.invasive.org/maweeds.cfm.
USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area, Invasive Plants: Weeds of the Week, http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database, http://plants.usda.gov/.

REFERENCES:
Rhoads A.F. and T.A. Block. 2000. The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1061 pp. USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database, http://plants.usda.gov/.

Management and Control Information

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