RE: [Aroid-l] Invasive plants

**M*@cs.com**

"ron" <ronlene@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>To all of those who think it's OK to grow "just a few" invasive plants "at
>home",
>by owning it, you assume the responsibility of quarantining it until you are
>confident that it will not be invasive, because it may escape.  I believe
>this testing should be left to the trusted professional grower.
>We all take great pride in our collection.  Lets also take great pride in
>our environment!  DON'T GROW INVASIVE PLANTS!!       Ron Kessler
>
If I may add something...

Even the professional grower may not be able to keep a handle on the plants being tested.  Where I currently live, in the Hawaiian Islands, one of the most troublesome weed shrubs is Clidemia, also known as Coster's curse.  It was originally imported legally by a botanic garden, but escaped.  Now it is too widespread and abundant to control.

You have to go pretty high into the mountains to find much native vegetation in Hawaii anymore; most of our rainforests are reminiscent of the fictional island of New Switzerland (the setting for _The Swiss Family Robinson_) -- that is, an impossible mixture of every part of the globe.  Incidentally, another of our worst weeds is an aroid popular with plant enthusiasts: the familiar Epipremnum aureum, with habits akin to the kudsu you Southerners know and love.

Jason Hernandez
Naturalist-at-Large
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