#211: Gunnera

Students studying the GCSE Natural History will become aware of the impact of invasive species on the native plants and animals in an area. 

Several of these were originally introduced because of their ornamental appearance in the estates and gardens of wealthy people. They are now being removed, which is costing a lot of money in some cases.

One of them is gunnera. It looks like giant rhubarb.

UK bans popular garden plant Gunnera after study finds it an invasive species https://t.co/xKmxTudYxm

— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) December 8, 2023

Many years ago, I spent time working as a volunteer for Scottish Natural Heritage on the Isle of Rum. One of the jobs we had was to do was to remove rhododendrons from the vicinity of Kinloch Castle with chainsaws and burn them. I also painted a few doors in the cellars of the castle. This was a huge job as many of the slopes in the area around the castle were covered in the plant, which produced shade which led to the disappearance of other plants. There is a concerted effort to remove it from Scotland if possible.

Rhododendron ponticum is the most expensive alien plant conservation problem in Britain and Ireland. It was introduced in the eighteenth century, probably in 1763 from Spain, and was then described as a not fully hardy plant. 

It was expensive to buy. 

It was made hardier by artificial and natural selection and by hybridisation with Appalachian and other Rhododendron species. It is easy to propagate and became cheap and popular in the mid and late nineteenth century as an ornamental, for game cover and as a root stock for other ornamental rhododendrons.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233485570_Rhododendron_ponticum_in_Britain_and_Ireland_Social_Economic_and_Ecological_Factors_in_its_Successful_Invasion 

Image source: https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-gunnera/