From a place far, far away we came upon a beautiful remote little island, bringing with us our treasured house plants to decorate our spaceships for the journey and eventually our homes in a new world. Little did we realise that these treasured plants in their delicate pots would take over the land like something out of a horror movie. Such as the Day of the Pampas, or Gingerland, or how about The Moth.
? Joking aside, these invasive plants are not just any old weed in the wrong place, they are plants that cause high levels of environmental damage to our native ecosystem. The very worst of them will out-compete, smother or poison the native species and waterways. At some level, one can only admire their ability to proliferate, and they use nature to do it – wind, water, birds and soil, sending their offspring to find new ground to colonise.
The worst offenders, or perhaps the best, are those that have amazing seed dispersal. If you have driven down SH1 recently you will have seen the vast swathes of pampas that are dominating the landscape (not to be confused with the native toi toi). Or the Dome Valley, a lovely corridor for wild ginger to hang out.
At Tāwharanui, the worst invaders we are at pains to keep out are wild ginger, moth plant and woolly nightshade. Then there’s also pampas, monkey apple, bone seed, and the list goes on. There are others, as well as those mentioned above, out on the peninsula and the surrounding areas just waiting to leap the fence, such as p.
