Killer Weeds

Remember purple loose strife, that accursed (albeit quite beautiful) 'weed', not native to Ontario but an introduced species that had no natural enemies, no bugs or beetles that might destroy it, and whose presence multiplied along provincial waterways, threatening to usurp the beloved presence of the province's native species? The Ministry of Natural Resources encouraged people to report its presence, to take steps themselves to eradicate the damn weed wherever they saw it. It presented a threat to the existence of native species.

And then, well, nothing much. Purple loose strife behaved itself like a well-mannered guest. It thrived along waterways and ditches, and presented as a lovely wild plant to be admired on the landscape in later summer. Take the place of native plants? It did no such thing, and it admirably proved that there was room aplenty for it and other plant species in the wide, open spaces of the province. Not at all like the kudzu that had been introduced into the southern United States from its native Japan, and which ended up strangling all other plants, even trees.

Where would we be without our intermittent bouts of hysteria over things we don't quite understand. And which the news media love to plump up into stories guaranteed to up the ante of popular distress? Day after day in the newspapers, on radio, on television, and likely on the Internet as well, stories about the huge, toxic plant that threatens to bring disaster to the Province and its vulnerable population. And the dire need to eradicate it as promptly as possible, but with extreme care lest it bring disaster down upon us.

THE GIANT HOGWEED prepares to strike! Some plants can attain a height two and a half times taller than a mere mortal, now that's impressive. So what does that make this then, a fascinating botanical specimen or a noxious weed? Public opinion, fanned, aided and abetted by the media have opted for the weed designation, a mean, nasty, threatening weed. The invasion of the giant hogweed. It is to despair. What can save us from this threat?

Common sense? We deal with deadly nightshade, poison ivy and its various cousins, stinging nettle, castor-bean plants (deadly ricin produced from this beauty) all of which are far, far more are deadly. Take a walk in the woods and there are red- and white-baneberry, beautiful woodland plants, and deadly, deadly. You'll also find wild strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plants, along with thimbleberries. We eat those, we don't eat the baneberries.

At one time when people sensibly knew something about the plants that grew around them, and even planted many of them for their medicinal values, people had a basic knowledge of a country pharmacopoeia of useful plants. The most commonly-useful drug used today comes from willow bark, and a baby Aspirin a day helps people who are at risk of heart problems. Extracts from Echinacea which we grow in our gardens, are useful in fighting cold symptoms.

The tips of yew trees are used to produce a drug that fights ovarian cancer: Tamoxifen, produced by huge pharmaceutical companies. Ontario's own yews (ground hemlock) have been identified as useful for the same cancer-fighting purpose; the new tips excised and used for life-saving purposes. Lungwort and ginseng, ginkgo and St.John's wort; herbs like basil, rosemary, oregano have all been used as folk remedies for various ailments.

Nasty plants, however, abound too. And those we avoid, when we can. Stinging nettle can be a nasty encounter, but not only in the woods. When we fill our many garden pots in the spring with black dirt enriched with compost we buy in bags from our neighbourhood nursery, the soil has also been enriched with stinging nettle seed. Which germinates and gifts us throughout the growing season, with nasty nettles. Growing among the wonderful floral annuals.

To be removed with a gloved hand, lest one's digits pay the price long afterward. Common sense. We have trees in our gardens whose pods are deadly; caragena, the lovely yellow-flowering pea. Autumn crocus, monkshood, deliciously fragrant lily-of-the-valley, the stately, gorgeous Delphinium, the lovely-belled Foxgloves, candy-coloured lantana, all poisonous garden plants.

The hysteria that has accompanied news and descriptions of the hogweed plant is absurd. There are people who have grown the plant as an interesting garden specimen for decades, and who have never suffered any inconvenience as a result. No health problems. It is like the lovely flowering maple, a showy plant with large, delicate paper-pastel flowers. Some people are severely allergic to the plant and on touching it will develop blisters.

The giant hogweed which originated in the Caucasus and Central Asia was brought to Europe and North America as an ornamental garden species, a giant among plants. We once had a sea buckthorn in our garden and finally rid ourselves of it, for its thorns and its creeping roots popping up far from the original appeared a garden threat to us, but we did not fear it. Plants have their uses, practical and as representatives of nature's variety.

We should respect them as we should respect the natural world around us, by learning something about the living things that share this planet with us, and which can do so much to complement our lives.

Hemlock, anyone?