just for a change today we went for a walk in Old Deer Park woods (see link SX381724). We came across two invasive species, one of which, mimulus, we quite like, and the other, Japanese knotweed, is regarded as an absolute pest. The Japanese knotweed appears to have displaced the mimulus which is now growing along the course of the small streams in the wood. I am not sure that many of the plants in the woods are truly native, we must have one of the most disturbed and unnatural floras of anywhere in the world.
3 comments:
Where does the Japanese k towered come from?
Tara
from Japan (I think). It was introduced as an ornamental plant (indeed the flower spikes do look very attractive) but in the absence of any natural predators in UK it has become rampant. It is extremely difficult to eradicate and can grow through thick concrete floors. It can be eradicated by repeated applications of glyphosate but that is both expensive and liable to kill everything else! We have been importing alien species since the mid 16th Century ...with unpredictable consequences, and our local flora is full of well established strangers.
We have the same issue with rampant bamboo...it grows through concrete and conquers everything in its path...
Tara
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