Re: Whitelist of Prohibited Import Plants
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Whitelist of Prohibited Import Plants
- From: C* D*
- Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 21:29:45 -0700
From David Feix:
......................................................
The white list may end up
>proposing that any non-native, (to the U.S.A.),
>species be prohibited from entry unless controlled
>tests are run to determine that it is not
>undesireable.
+++++---------------
This sounds like a variation of the old baby/bathwater conundrum.
My hobby happens to be bromeliads. I don't think I've encountered a
bromeliad that would really be considered invasive. I haven't heard that
they are undesirable from this standpoint anywhere in the world. (Ooh, I
forgot, some people in th southeast would probably nominate Spanish Moss as
a weed!)
And that brings up something that has cropped up quite often on
this list. Plants that are invasive and weeds in one location are often
non-invasive and desirable somewhere else. I had a Scotch Broom bush in my
backyard for twenty years. It grew as a single well behaved bush, gave me a
nice set of little yellow flowers, but I thought it was getting to the end
of its rope and I removed it. It was also getting just a bit large for the
location!
How can a test determine that a given plant is "undesirable"? Who
is going to be the Great Guru of Desirability?
There are those that feel they have great powers in deciding what
others should like or enjoy. I have a hybrid Bermuda lawn. It needs little
attention and has not destroyed the plantings in this county. I would hate
to have someone unilaterally decide that my lawn should be exterminated
because they cannot control that plant in their lawn.
Do I misunderstand this list and its purpose?
And for that matter, what is a "native species". I suspect that
most of our "natives" originated somewhere else but were introduced so long
ago that we call them "native". Perhaps we will have to declare a date as
the defining watershed. Any plant introduced after this date can never be
considered "native" and any plant present at that date is now to be a
"native". Since I have little other claim to fame, I propose that we accept
my birthday, 20 April 1922, as this watershed date. That way I will feel
important. ---Chas---
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It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
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Charles E. Dills 1371 Avalon San Luis Obispo CA 93405
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