Growing Closer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Global warming creates more favorable habitats.

Dogs have been trained to detect the presence of this plant

There is some resistance to herbicides, but this is more likely to happen in the US.

When reporting the presence of this plant, or any other invasive species for that matter, very often nothing happens, or too little too late, because the workers are not informed about the plants or what to do about it, and a certain fatigue in what is seen as fighting against windmills is present due to this lack of information. The more information is available, though, the more gets done.

Answer: It often gets sold under different names to avoid the bans.

Reynoutria japonica makes environmental damage from floods worse, as it prevents sunlight from reaching the ground, so that no grass or other small plants can grow and stabilize the soil. The Christmas flooding in the Black Forest, Germany, in 1991 had roads and bridges collapse due to this.

It does not only look like bamboo to most people, it also easily hybridizises with related (often also invasive) knotweeds, so it gets underreported. Cloned colonies of genetically the same male or female plants cover river banks over hundreds of meters, and a very small part of the plant is enough to grow a new specimen.

Answer: It can be used for each of these purposes.

The plant is also edible for humans and a minor food source in Asia. However, due to its tendency to absorb pollutants, it can be toxic when harvested in unregulated areas. The same problem limits using it as fertilizer for food producing plants.

Answer: It hampers traffic as boats have trouble passing and can even get stuck.

Irrigation can also get clogged by parrot feather. In water bodies used for recreation, swimming may become difficult. Also, mosquitos use the mats forming on standing waters as breeding grounds.

As with any noxious aquatic plant, controlling it with herbicides is difficult, because it can only be applied to the parts above water, and the pollution herbicides causes can be worse than damage from the plant itself.

Answer: False

Neophytes are also carried by ships across oceans and by other cargo, as often a small piece of the plant is enough to spread it. Accidental imports in animal feed still occur for some species. This method is often the most important factor in the spread of neophytes and invasive species especially.

Answer: The long time deprivation of sunlight.

Its honey is toxic to honeybees and a few other species, although the bees seem to avoid the shrub due to their ability to detect toxins. It has no effect on other plants.

While the leaves do indeed degrade very slowly, thus altering the property of the soil, this is a short-term effect. The main problem is the total die-off of everything else in the dark, with only spores from mosses or liverworts able to grow quickly. By the time grasses and other plants arrive, there is no space in the moss carpet to set roots.

Rhododendron ponticum likely hybridises with Japanese laurel with yet to be determined frequency. In the UK, the plant was hybridized with northern American species to make it hardy for the climate. Parts of Scotland have lost most of their native plant populations, instead having shrub forests occupying whole hill sides. Its growth is so dense and uniform, people have been known to get lost in it. Rescue operations are difficult, because it can be almost impossible to penetrate the thick growth.

Answer: Baccharis halimifolia (sea myrtle)

Kudzu, while banned, is not yet a major concern in Europe.

Hakea sericea is native to Australia and already a concern in southern parts of Europe, together with Hakea decurrens.

Ailanthus altissima is not a shrub but a tree and one of the 100 worst invasive species in Europe, in part because it hosts the spotted lanternfly, an invasive neophyte from China.

Answer: Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)

Himalayan balsam is suspected to use allelopathy, but this is still disputed.

Robinias and goldenrods grow on meager grounds, enriching it in nutrients so that specialised plants cannot grow in those habitats anymore.

Pokeweed has become a major problem in the south and west of Germany after having presumably been introduced by US soldiers. Little to nothing else grows around these plants. It is also toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic.

Answer: Mowing.

Many of these plants are spreading under the soil, so mowing would not do much. During mowing, plant parts can spread around, including by getting stuck in clothes or being carried by the wind. With many invasive plants a tiny piece is enough to grow a full specimen, so it is better to find another way to deal with them.

Boiling water is a relatively new method to cover larger infested areas, such as roadsides or other places already lacking biodiversity. The boiling water is transported by tankers, making it less useful for out-of-the-way places.

Pesticides directly injected into the plant are not only safer for everything else growing around, it is sometimes the only way to cause enough of the poison to be taken up.

Removal by fire is not much more effective in many cases than mowing, but it carries less risk of plant material being transferred.

Answer: Their sap is phototoxic.

The sap of these plants causes phytophotodermatitis, with photosensitivity usually peaking at around 30 minutes after contact. The causative agents are linear furanocoumarins, causing the cells they enter to die when coming into contact with UV light, and thus inflammation occurs. If sap gets on you, wash with soap and cover the affected area for at least two days.