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Fw: Invasives- Euphorbia myrsinites and the danger of Tobacco

Hello All,

First, apologies to those of you who will receive more than one copy
of this message, should you be on more than one of the lists to which
I am forwarding (with his kind permission) this excellent essay,
posted by Panayoti Kelaidis to Alpine-L - food for thought in the
ongoing (I hope) attempt by all of us in horticulture to sort out the
issues surrounding noxious weeds and the proposed 'clean' or 'white'
list regulation issues.  

For those of you who do not know him, Panayoti is Curator of Plant
Collections at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Online Nurseries 2002 - Garden Vision
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
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> From: Panayoti and Gwen Kelaidis <kelaidis@ATTBI.COM>
> 
> Bill King observed that Euphorbia myrsinites is a weed in Utah, it
is listed
> by the State weed office as a noxious weed in Colorado as well.
This
> dramatizes the terrible ambiguity of the current weed initiatives:
this
> succulent Mediterranean has naturalized along roadsides in two
counties
> along the Front Range in Colorado as well--and is in full bloom as
we speak.
> It would take a determined cadre of a few dozen gardeners armed
with hoes a
> few hours to essentially eliminate every plant from both
colonies--Or even
> more quickly if one used chemical means. I'm not sure either action
is
> warranted. To put this middling vigorous adventive in the same
category as
> Euphorbia esula, which has infiltrated tens of thousands of acres
over a
> range of a thousand miles, and is virtually ineradicable at that is
like
> charging teenagers caught necking on Lover's Lane with
prostitution. I do
> not approve of prostitution, but necking among consenting adults
can be
> quite fun.
> 
> The inability to distinguish between adventives, ruderal plants,
and the
> delightful and often useful vegetational rabble that accompany
humanity
> wherever we go with plants possessing enormous capacity for long
range
> dispersal like the Russian Knapweeds in the West is just one of the
> fallacies of the Weed witch hunt taking place nowadays. The Great
Sufi sage,
> Nasrudin, once found a friend searching for something under a
street lamp.
> "What did you lose, my friend?" queried Nasrudin. His friend
replied "I lost
> a coin across the street." "Why are you looking for it here,
then?", "It's
> dark across the street: I decided it would be easier to look for it
here
> under the streetlight."
> 
> Horticulture happens to be under the streetlight: noxious weeds
have
> generally been imported as contaminants in agronomic crops or in
industrial
> packaging or as mysterious hitch hikers in all manner of
untraceable and
> dark vectors that are outside the ken of current ersatz
conservation
> science.  To take on the Agronomic lobby would threaten the staff
of life,
> and lord knows that Industry is a force to be reckoned with.
Ornamental
> horticulture strikes latter day puritans as frivolous and probably
culpable
> (surely people who derive pleasure from plants must be somehow
guilty of
> something sinister). The last thing that occurs to the weedies is
that a
> gardener might know a thing or two about weeds. There are weeds and
noble,
> native plants, and nothing in between in this dichotomous,
Manichean world
> of Evil Weeds.
> 
> It is tempting, but we must not trivialize, demonize nor discount
the
> enormous organizational know how and zeal of the weed lobby: Green
groups
> have cut their teeth taking on large corporations and winning
handily. Of
> course, noxious weeds are an enormous problem, and I wish they
could focus
> on the truly noxious weeds and particularly on the facts. But like
the
> various brands of lefties who spent their resources and efforts
fighting one
> another during the Spanish Republic, virtually handing Spain over
to the
> tiny fascist minority in the process, the internal squabbles
between
> horticulturists and weed patrollers will probably ensure that the
landscape
> becomes uniform weeds and strip malls, and our gardens, what?
faithful
> recreations of a presettlement Flora that will no longer exist in
so called
> nature and certainly doesn't exist in the weed patrollers' yards. I
remember
> reading an account of some communist who proclaimed "So what if
Franco won?
> We Republicans had all the best songs!" Alas, while gardeners and
weed
> patrollers sing our dissonant harmonies, vast acreage is logged,
chained,
> overgrazed, recreational vehicled,  bulldozed and left raw and
> un-revegetated, Nature yearns for a bit of herbage--a weed if need
be--to
> clothe her naked and ravaged body.
> 
> I believe that gardeners have the right to grow any plant on earth
> (including weeds) in their garden beds, much as poets and painters
have
> right to free expression. I believe it is repugnant and
unconstitutional for
> Puritans to dictate what consenting adults do in their beds,
literal or
> horticultural. Just as the Nazis and Communists sought to eliminate
free
> thought and shackle language with "socialist realism", the attempt
to impose
> ever more restrictive legislation on horticulture will only stymie
and
> thwart the true control of weeds.  Hasn't it occurred to most of
you that
> there is no more sophisticated student of weed science than a keen
gardener?
> Tyranny does not always occur by coup or fiat, but generally creeps
in
> gradually, through executive order, bureaucratic manipulation and
the
> expanding authority of small minds who work in dark and
undemocratic places.
> The worst tyranny is when good citizens question and censor
themselves
> unnecessarily, to forestall a bully. Despite the relative abundance
of our
> current age, neurotic and even psychotic behavior can and will
manifest
> itself wherever a petty bureaucrat perceives that they can dominate
and
> control another human being.
> 
> Like the lecturer in Chehov's "Danger of Tobacco" I suddenly
realize that
> the subject we are addressing is just Euphorbia myrsinites: a very
vigorous
> plant, I admit. A bit of a weed in the wrong context, but surely
not
> noxious. No, not noxious at all. Excuse me, for I must go to bed
now. Of
> course, that's none of your business!
> 
> Panayoti Kelaidis
> Denver, Colorado USA (Zone 5)

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