Bishop’s weed or Aegopodium podagraria is a native of Eurasia, also known as ground elder, herb gerard, goutweed, gout wort, and snow-in-the-mountain. Like its cousin, Queen Anne’s Lace, another Eurasian import, (Daucus carota) Bishop’s weed is a perennial and member of the carrot family. Bishop’s Weed was brought to the U.S. as an ornamental ground cover in the late 1800s. It is still very common in Europe and has spread to most of the U.S.
Bishop’s weed has been classed as an invasive weed in a number of states because it is aggressive and pervasive. It has long rhizomes that propagate even if they are ripped out of the ground, as well as numerous small seeds from the flowers. It grows rapidly to height in early spring and summer and stops shorter (native) plants that grow close to the ground from receiving adequate exposure to sunlight, causing them to die.
I’e been helping a friend weed a local garden with flowerbeds. A few years ago some donated bulbs came with an extra payload of Bishop’s weed, and it flourished and spread despite aggressive attempts to remove it. Some of these plants are over five feet from rhizome to top.
