Invaders from the planet Botanica

There have been a number of recent postings warning about the weed
potential of someone's favorite plant.  In my own case, a warning
about my beloved, much maligned honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica,
triggered a polemic response that, coming from me, bordered on the 
apoplectic.

I think that due to the nature of the discussion, this will continue
to be a problem.  Many of us are engaged in finding plant and garden 
solutions that will work in the climatic conditions where we live.
If a plant will live without irrigation in your garden, it will
also do so outside of it.  The only difference between such a plant
and an invasive weed species is its ability to reproduce, spread,
and compete with either native species in areas where they still
still exist in significantly undisturbed ecosystems, agricultural
crops, or other desirable plantings (my garden and the ash tree
across the street come to mind).So I spent an hour or two recently cruising 
the information highway, looking for information that might be useful in 
keeping out of trouble in this area.


The National Park Service has a nice page up at:

http//:www.nps.gov/plants/alien

entitled weeds gone wild.  It has plant lists, printable factsheets
for individual plants, and a very useful links page that will connect
you to other similar sites worldwide.

Here in California, there is a website for the california invasive
Pest plant council, an interagency working group I believe,  that
has  the most current stuff on weed problems in wildlands and
natural areas that I could find:

http://www.caleppc.org/info/plantlist.html

The list is printable, about twelve pages long, and quite usefully arranged. 
My relief at not finding Lonicera japonica was somewhat
tempered by the presence of Schinus molle, Crataegus monogyna, and Olea 
europaea on list B, wildland pest plants of lesser invasiveness.
I have, I think, at one time or another, suggested all of these
to friends as useful and beautiful in a particular situation.
Sapium sebiferum made the list of species with potential to spread
explosively, another blow to my list of favorites. All in all,
a very useful source if you live and garden in California.

Finally, Cal Ag has a site at:

http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/weedinfo/

that approaches the same problem from a more agricultural perspective
and so includes a number of plants that are not so invasive in natural
areas, but will invade cultivated areas, such as many of our gardens.
It to is worth looking at if you have the time and the conscience.

I know that at least a couple of people on the list are weed professionals, 
so would welcome their additions to this admittedly
cursory review.  Meanwhile, I think maybe I won't plant anything
new for awhile.  Schinus molle, my god who knew?


Yours most respectfully,
Michael Larmer

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