Death to the Evil Plant

[subgenius]

Thirsty Plant Targeted by the Feds
June 19, 2003 01:14 AM EDT


ESCONDIDO, Calif. - Past a winery and down a dirt road, jackrabbits and squirrels scamper into the brush near where Mike Kelly grabs hold of a shrub with billowy, pale pink flowers near a small creek bed.

His mission: to yank the shrub out, and kill as many as he can.

"People don't understand why you would want to kill a pretty plant," said Kelly, a plant-control specialist in San Diego County. But the seemingly innocuous plant, known as tamarisk or salt cedar, is slowly wreaking havoc across the West.

The Bush administration is spending millions to find the best way to snuff out the water-guzzling shrub that has spread unchecked across more than a million acres in more than a dozen Western states stretching from Montana to the Mexican border.

One tamarisk can suck up 300 gallons of water per day. Across the West each year, tamarisk suck up nearly 800 billion gallons more water than the native plants they have replaced, according to a study by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. That's enough water for 4.8 million people, or more than the entire population of Colorado.

http://start.earthlink.net/newsarticle?cat=6&aid=D7ROL9K00_story

So they're thinking of introducing a chinese beetle to eat them. Undoubtedly that would cause other problems.
Just put a bounty on the little bastards.

[Jon_in_london]

Alien flora is a big problem in many parts of the world. Across most of southern africa, lanterna is a major problem- pretty flowers and all but outgrows just about everything else. Its leaves are posionous to boot- meaning that many cattle die after eating it.

In and around Cape Town, pine and eucalyptus trees are a massive problem. They grow everywhere, suck all the water and acidify the soil so that nothing else can grow there. They are a real mencace.

[subgenius]

The problem with this plant is that its non-native and now they want to import an alien species of bug to eat it.

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by subgenius
The problem with this plant is that its non-native and now they want to import an alien species of bug to eat it.

Thats clever!

[The Fool]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london


Thats clever!

Nearly as clever as the Cane Toad in Australia. If you want to see a story of this sort of thing gone mad....search on cane toad in any good search engine.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by The Fool


Nearly as clever as the Cane Toad in Australia. If you want to see a story of this sort of thing gone mad....search on cane toad in any good search engine.

And waht about the royalty in Britain? Imported in from Germany, sucking up valuable resources... I'm getting off track here, aren't I?

Ummm... I guess they could introduce cane toads to eat the beatles, davey raveheads to lick the cane toads... ;)

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by The Fool


Nearly as clever as the Cane Toad in Australia. If you want to see a story of this sort of thing gone mad....search on cane toad in any good search engine.

I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly.........

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by subgenius
So they're thinking of introducing a chinese beetle to eat them. Undoubtedly that would cause other problems.
Just put a bounty on the little bastards.

I have visions of thousands of people cultivating and turning in truckloads of this weed.

[MRC_Hans]

Interesting.... around here, they are grown in gardens. Quite pretty. Never saw them ouside of gardens, perhaps our climate is not benificial for them, as least not enough to give them an edge over native flora.

Anyway, its water consumption won't be a problem :rolleyes:

Hans

[subgenius]

This SOB can make springs stop flowing and dry up lakes.
Here's an article on anti-tamarisk efforts:
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/success/ca003.html
Remarkably, the spring in Thousand Palms Canyon began flowing again for the first time in years just hours after the first large tamarisk cutting effort there.

Still think a bounty would help and put people to work.

[Dancing David]

In Northern illinois the problem is purple loosestrife in the marshes , but beetle control has been a little effective. Still see it in gardens all the time.

Cane Toads , what a great movie!

[Khalid01]

I participated in a similar effort last month at the Bolsa Chica Wildlife Preserve, near Huntington Beach. It allowed us students to procure awards credit, although I found the primary benefit to be helping the environment directly. Anyhow, what we had to do was rip out some ice plant at the aforementioned location. We were told that Cal Trans had previously planted it and it propagated, and overwhelmed the native plants. We weren't industrially successful, but our efforts weren't futile either.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Skinner: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?
Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by BillyTK


And waht about the royalty in Britain? Imported in from Germany, sucking up valuable resources... I'm getting off track here, aren't I?

Ummm... I guess they could introduce cane toads to eat the beatles, davey raveheads to lick the cane toads... ;)

Maybe some redback spiders on their toilet seats?

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
Alien flora is a big problem in many parts of the world. Across most of southern africa, lanterna is a major problem- pretty flowers and all but outgrows just about everything else. Its leaves are posionous to boot- meaning that many cattle die after eating it.

In and around Cape Town, pine and eucalyptus trees are a massive problem. They grow everywhere, suck all the water and acidify the soil so that nothing else can grow there. They are a real mencace.

Where the hell did Lantana come from? I remember my first trip to the north, (ie, where it is warmer), and seeing the odd bush with it's colourful flowers, and thinking they looked nice. Then after about the thousandth bush it dawned on me they were a weed.

Eucalyptus are good in that they are very hardy, but nothing can grow on the ground around them. Fine if you need to feed koalas too.

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by subgenius
The problem with this plant is that its non-native and now they want to import an alien species of bug to eat it.

We need a few cropdusters full of RoundUp in Calif. All I can hope for is that this new weed is better than the star thistle imported from Europe long ago that now is taking up much of California's land.

[Denise]

I also find it funny that people populate desert areas and expand huge amount of water to try and make it ahem, not a desert area. Especially, people who want to have a green lush lawn in an area that is a typical desert. They spend all kinds of money for the soil, then the grass, and the water bill is huge. But hey, they're not ecohogs.:D