Gypsophila paniculata (baby’s breath) is a popular garden ornamental and horticultural crop introduced to North America in the late 1800s. After introduction it quickly spread, often forming dense monotypic stands and crowding out native species. To better understand this invasion, samples of G. paniculata from seven distinct populations spanning a portion of the plant’s invaded range within the United States (Washington, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan) were collected and genotyped using 14 microsatellite loci. Population structure was inferred using both Bayesian and multivariate methods. The results suggest the presence of at least two genetic clusters among the seven sampling locations, with samples from Washington, North Dakota, Minnesota, and northwestern Michigan forming one genetic cluster and the second cluster consisting of two more southern sampling locations in Michigan. Public herbarium records were used to examine the invasion status (expansion vs. plateau phase) of the identified genetic clusters for G. paniculata. Invasion curves were created from a database of 351 herbarium collections dating from the late 1800s to current day. Results showed that time periods of invasion differed between the two genetics clusters, suggesting at least two invasion events. Patterns of reduced genetic diversity within the earlier invasion could reflect limited standing genetic variation during the initial period of this horticultural species’ import. This study emphasizes how anthropogenic influences can shape the study of invasive plant ecology, particularly when considering species popular in the botanical or horticultural industries.

满天星（Gypsophila paniculata）（婴儿的呼吸）是一种流行的园林观赏和园艺作物，于1800年代末传入北美。引入后，它迅速蔓延，经常形成密集的单型林分并挤走本地物种。为了更好地了解这种入侵，我们对G. paniculata的样本收集来自美国（华盛顿，北达科他州，明尼苏达州和密歇根州）一部分植物入侵范围的七个不同种群的种群，并使用14个微卫星基因座进行基因分型。使用贝叶斯方法和多变量方法推断种群结构。结果表明，在七个采样点中至少存在两个遗传簇，华盛顿，北达科他州，明尼苏达州和密歇根州西北部的样本构成一个遗传簇，第二个簇由密歇根州的两个南部采样点组成。公共植物标本室记录用于检查已鉴定出的G. paniculata遗传簇的入侵状况（扩张期与高原期）。入侵曲线是从1800年代末到今天的351个植物标本室集合的数据库中创建的。结果表明，入侵的时间周期在两个遗传集群之间有所不同，表明至少有两次入侵事件。较早入侵期间遗传多样性减少的模式可能反映了该园艺物种进口初期的有限的常设遗传变异。这项研究强调了人为因素如何影响入侵植物生态学的研究，特别是考虑到在植物或园艺行业中流行的物种时。