Simien Thistle - 197311LJW

Thistles seem to grow everywhere ;) I like this photo, Larry! It tells about the parsimony and drought of the country. May

Hi May. I find plants very interesting in the habitats they grow and their different techniques of survival. Gruess, Larry

Larry, that's a very interesting subject!

The problems of IAS, like the Scottish broom in your country, we have here also with the Impatiens glandulifera, which I photographed in England, it has become a pest in our regions, because it takes over the place of other plants. 150 years ago, seeds had been brought from Northindia, its original habitat, to England, from there it came to the European continent and is nearly everywhere now. It leads to erosion on waterbanks. Du you have this one also in your country?

Liebi Grüess, May

Grüezi May.

I have not seen the ornamental jewelweed yet, but it is in Western Washington. One of the biggest fights going on here right now is against Knotweed.

Its cloning ability has spread it far and wide. It has become a major economical and ecological nightmare here. I have been amazed how much it has spread here in just five years. Some think that this could become the most common plant around the world in the near future.

I feel that the dispersion of plants and animals into new areas will change the world we know. Just tonight I head about the devastation that the introduction of the Lion Fish is causing n the waters along the east coast of the US.

It seems as long as we move about the globe, plants and animals will be moving with us.

Gruess, Larry

Oh, yes, the knotweed is a pest here as well.

There are many crab species and mussels coming into our lakes, which are a growing danger for the species here.

In the lake of Constance alone are many hundred different neozoens, many of them invasives, in spite of the natural barrier of the biggest waterfall in Europe (near Schaffhausen, Switzerland). The problem is, that it's mostly humans, who carry those Neozoens and Neophytes to new places to get new possibilities for food or fur for the profit of a few.

Liebi Grüess, May