I am not an allergy sufferer, very fortunate, so I can enjoy that every plant is in bloom. There are so many flowers to view and appreciate, trees in bloom, and lots of wild poppies and yarrow. I wish I could overlook all of the invasive species that are threatening to replace our natural vegetation in the foothills. The list of these plants is long and not surprising, some of them are downright dangerous to humans and animals. Hemlock was made infamous through the trial of Socrates, Shakespeare‘s Hamlet and MacBeth and many other stories of intrigue. Ingesting Hemlock can be fatal, it is toxic. The plant is a relative of the parsley family and looks like a wild carrot. The picture is the plant growing in my neighborhood with the native yarrow in front. The white flowers make both seem harmless, you can recognize the hemlock by its hairless, hollow stocks. Obviously you should not make a cup of tea from the plant but eliminating may be good for our environment.
I also have a personal vendetta on stinging nettle, skeleton weed, and myrtle’s spurge. The nettle is very prolific this year, likely because of the amount of rainfall this spring. If you touch the nettle it actually stings and goes on irritating for quite some time. As a young caddie, I laid on the bank of the Portneuf River to get the golf balls that were exposed by the falling water level. I did not recognize the nettle and quickly felt the pain across my entire upper body. It took hours for the pain to ease and I have had the benefit of immunity by exposure that has lasted over 65 years. It still stings but it goes away in short order. Skeleton weed is not toxic but it is prolific and starves out native grasses. Finally, myrtles spurge is a toxic weed growing in our area. The sap in the leaves is toxic to humans and animals and can cause blindness if it gets in eyes. The deer and rabbits know not to eat it. Dig it up but beware the sap.
After pondering for a moment, seems like too much vitriol against some random plants. As I read more about how these plants move around the globe, I make a discovery. We humans are the most invasive species in the history of the planet. As humans migrated to parts of the globe not previously inhabited, the increases in population led to losses in biodiversity. It is estimated that 30,000 species per year now reach extinction. Humans impact the physical environment: over population, pollution, burning fossil fuels, agricultural process, raising livestock, deforestation are all on us! It is very hot in Texas this week and we are directly responsible.
I would take it one step further and say those of us who do not understand the importance of everyone on this planet and do not value diversity and inclusion are evidence of the threat of our species.
I encourage each of us to be a part of the solution, we better get started.
Enjoy the week end. Mike
Invasive Species
