Re: SPEC: Iris pseudacorus

From: HIPSource@aol.com

In a message dated 98-11-18 13:23:13 EST, you write:

<< The problem isn't about clogging waterways, but displacing native plants,
thereby disturbing natural ecosystem/habitats.  Seen that way, by definition
I. pseud. isn't a problem in regions where it's native.  Nor would I.
virginica or I. versicolor be here.... Not all introduced water irises have
the vigor to compete effectively with what might grow in those creeks and
lakes in the absence of the introduced iris seed.   Yellow flag seems to.  I
don't think that Japanese iris do. I don't know about others.>>>>>

Actually, the chief problem causing the loss of native species is the
destruction of habitats of the naturally occurring populations, which might
well be a result of clogging waterways with something or other, even a slow
moving iris. It is more often a result of wholesale interference with what we
are pleased to refer to as the balance of nature. With the draining of
wetlands for land development, the contamination of the littorals, and the
depradations caused by agribusiness or industry, many ecosystems have been
damaged or changed on a wholesale level. Too often folks putatively interested
in saving endangered species envision their mission to be rounding up a few
plants to grow at home, and this is a noble gesture as far as it goes, but in
the last analysis unless the natural habitats themselves are preserved, the
wild species as unique entities cannot be said to survive. 

I don't now, nor have I ever, advocated the wanton introduction of invasive
plants, foreign or domestic, into natural ecosystems, but neither do I
underestimate the ability and willingness of gardeners to educate themselves
on the issues of concern to all who love the earth and behave responsibly with
regard to vigorous plants. 

The government, however, may defend its own record on these matters.

Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com

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