Libelous vandals!

I don't know which is more distasteful: people who deface library books or people who don't get their facts straight. But those who do it at the same time? Don't get me started! In case you can't read the handiwork of this vandal, it says, above the listing for Liatris, "No longer a politically correct plant. Very aggressive and invasive." Could it be the person just saw a spiky, purple flower out of the corner of an eye and thought it was purple loosestrife, a beautiful but noxious plant that runs roughshod over wetland environments? Liatris, often commonly called blazing star or gayfeather, is a beloved native wildflower in the wild and in the garden. I've never heard anyone describe it as being invasive.

By the by, Heller's blazing star (L. helleri) is a threatened species listed under the Endangered Species Act, and several other Liatris species have protected status in North Carolina.

What's curious is that our unscrupulous editor had nothing at all to scribble on the listings for the thugs Japanese honeysuckle and English ivy. I can only assume his/her pen ran out of ink.