Invasive Plants of the UCSC Campus
What is an "invasive"?
An invasive plant is a species that is not native to a habitat or ecosystem and, due to various factors such as habitat alteration or competition, is able to displace other, native species from that habitat. Most of the invasive plant species found at UCSC are either "weeds" that were introduced unintentionally on the hooves of cows or horses or in animal feed (such as many of the grasses found in the Great Meadow) or are ornamental plants that have escaped from where they were originally planted (such as french broom, pampas grass and perrywinkle).
Bull Thistle
(Cirsium vulgare)
Commonly found in grasslands
throughout campus or in any disturbed area Native to Europe the plant is coverd
in spines and prickly hairs. To control thistle's spread, the flowering heads
must be cut off and removed from the site.
Fennel (Foeniculum
vulgare)
Fennel is an invasive plant that hails from England and flourishes in disturbed
open, sunny places all over campus. This plant can be confused with poison
and water hemlocks, use extreme caution and double check the sweet smell and
lack of purple splotches before consuming or collecting.
Pampas
Grass (Cortaderia selloana)
Native to Argentina, is common along disturbed, sunny areas. They grow in
large clumps and have large plumes that come out of the center of the clump.
The edges of the grass are sharply serrated. To remove pampas grass, the flowering
plumes must be carefully taken off without spilling the seeds, and the roots
dug up.
French
Broom (Cytisus monspessulanus)
French broom is in the pea family, and is an aggresive invader. Members of
the pea family are able to fix nitrogen through rhizobium bacteria fixed to
the root nodules of the plant, which is part of the reason they are so good
at invading. The Great Meadow (along the bike path) and the Pogonip meadow
are being invaded by French broom.
Periwinkle (Vinca
major)
This is a perennial plant native to Europe. It is a common ornamental flower
in gardens. It prefers moist, shady areas. The scientific name is Latin, vincia,
which means "to bind," referring to the use of the long shoots
as a tourniqet to stop bleeding.
Rattlesnake Grass (Briza maxima)
Question: What causes us to believe that native plants are "better" than non-native plants? Is it racist to try and remove all non-native species? Many of these species have been established since colonization by the Europeans hundreds of years ago. Are these not part of our heritage? Of course, some of these plants that are considered invasive may actually pose a threat to ecological diversity of the area. Diversity is important for resistance to disease and general health of an ecosystem. How do we decide which plants to remove, if we even can?
All invasive plant information, except for fennel, from Lyons, Kathleen and Cooney-Lazaneo, Mary. Plants of the Coast Redwood Region. The Looking Press, CA. 1988. pages 179-185.
Fennel information from Clarke, Charlotte. Edible and Useful Plants of California. University of California Press, CA. 1977. pages 39-41.
Lucas Barth
