Approximately 100 million acres of land in the United States have been invaded by non-native plants in the past century. The Asiatic sand sedge, Carex kobomugi is one such invasive plant.  It displaces more fragile native species and seems to be without natural predators. How this species reached the U.S. is unknown, although it may have been used as packaging material for imported china, and a wrecked ship carrying such cargo may be responsible for its introduction into our area. Since then, it has expanded rapidly along the Jersey coast in habitats similar to American Beach Grass, reducing native species richness and diversity. C. kobomugi reproduces both sexually and asexually.  Understanding the relative importance of each of these in the species’ dispersal may provide important insights into how it may best be controlled. To determine this, we are using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA analysis of samples collected in New Jersey, as well as samples obtained from Japan, to assess the genetic diversity within the species. We expect that, if reproduction is primarily asexual, the DNA will show that the NJ plants are clones of one another, whereas if the plants use sexual means then they will be genetically diverse.