*Wild* Plants of Toronto

[Northern Light]

Photo taken May 16. 2021:

Foam Flower, a native plant, in Taylor Creek Park (not yet in bloom)

Also, I showed Blue Cohosh above, just as it comes out in spring, a dark purple colour; this is that same plant, in leaf now:

 

[Northern Light]

As I was passing along the bridge over Rosedale Valley Road yesterday, I saw something many of you might not see all that often; though it happens in forests with some regularity.

In the photo below you will see this tree is being harassed..........and in fact killed the vine that is all over it.

The vine is a native plant........its wild grape. As grape climbs the trees, the leaves of the grape actually shade the leaves of the tree, cutting off its ability to photosynthesize properly.

As the tree weakens, the weight of the grape vines eventually pulls it over.

It needs to be said that this is a natural process; and grape doesn't take down whole forests; though it can sometimes wreak havoc over a decent sized chunk of land.

Here is a close up of the grape leaves on this tree:

 

[lenaitch]

I hate that stuff! When we bought our small farm, it had been let go for several years and the vines had really latched onto some trees. It is not particularly selective but seemed to favour cherry and some conifers. I spend many hours trying to rip it out - including using the tractor, but sometimes if it was well established in the tree it was impossible and, even if I could, the tree was often badly misshapened. The vine is incredibly strong, particularly when it get to about an inch or so in diameter. The military should really latch onto this stuff!

 

[Northern Light]

@DSC 's good friend 'The Fixer' just wrote one of his silliest columns ever...............

Trying to spark mass panic about Cow Parsnip.

Beware, Scarborough hikers. The dangerous cow parsnip is flourishing in a Bluffs woodlot in the Guild Inn Park and Gardens

Contact with the sap of the noxious plant can cause painful blisters, burns and scarring.

www.thestar.com

This plant, which is native, looks similar to Giant Hogweed, over which there is similar hyperbole.

The idea that if you barely rub up against the plant you face extreme danger is so unreasonable as to be comical.

Its certainly not impossible you may get an adverse reaction; but severe outcomes are very, very rare.

Toronto's natural areas are filled with a variety of plants more likely to cause you problems.

I dare not list them for fear 'The Fixer' will want 20% of the plants in Toronto removed.

*****

I want to be clear, I am very sympathetic to people who have faced the most serious outcomes from assorted plant interactions.

In the case of Wild Parsnip/Cow Parsnip or Giant Hogweed the reactions in worst cases can be very serious. The severe outcomes arise out of getting the sap
that is inside the plant, on your skin; and then going exposing, your unwashed skin to the sun. (2nd degree chemical burns, and possibly, if you get it in your eyes, blindness)

Its horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But if you wanted to eradicate all the plants that could cause you serious harm, you'd have to wipe out dozens of native species.

I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that simply brushing up against Cow Parsnip is risk-free; but in most circumstances, its fairly close.

Its the sap inside the plant that is a serious risk.

Typically, you would only be exposed to that if you broke the plant open, or fell on it.

At any rate.........

I couldn't begin to list every plant that could harm by means of exposure or ingestion.........

But I hope no one tells the Fixer about Poison Ivy, or Poison Sumac or Poison Oak, or Virginia Creeper or Wisteria, or Water Hemlock or...... you get the idea.....

PS; while most of us, myself included, will not follow good guidance all the time; it really is wise, if hiking into a natural area, where some contact with plants is to be expected ( narrow foot path etc), wear pants, wear long sleeves; don't touch what you can't identify.

In most cases, not following that guidance won't get you in trouble...........but sometimes.........it will.

 

[lenaitch]

@DSC 's good friend 'The Fixer' just wrote one of his silliest columns ever...............

Trying to spark mass panic about Cow Parsnip.

Beware, Scarborough hikers. The dangerous cow parsnip is flourishing in a Bluffs woodlot in the Guild Inn Park and Gardens

Contact with the sap of the noxious plant can cause painful blisters, burns and scarring.

www.thestar.com

This plant, which is native, looks similar to Giant Hogweed, over which there is similar hyperbole.

The idea that if you barely rub up against the plant you face extreme danger is so unreasonable as to be comical.

Its certainly not impossible you may get an adverse reaction; but severe outcomes are very, very rare.

Toronto's natural areas are filled with a variety of plants more likely to cause you problems.

I dare not list them for fear 'The Fixer' will want 20% of the plants in Toronto removed.

*****

I want to be clear, I am very sympathetic to people who have faced the most serious outcomes from assorted plant interactions.

In the case of Wild Parsnip/Cow Parsnip or Giant Hogweed the reactions in worst cases can be very serious. The severe outcomes arise out of getting the sap
that is inside the plant, on your skin; and then going exposing, your unwashed skin to the sun. (2nd degree chemical burns, and possibly, if you get it in your eyes, blindness)

Its horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But if you wanted to eradicate all the plants that could cause you serious harm, you'd have to wipe out dozens of native species.

I wouldn't go so far as to suggestion that simply brushing up against Cow Parsnip is risk-free; but in most circumstances, its fairly close.

Its the sap inside the plant that is a serious risk.

Typically, you would only be exposed to that if you broke the plant open, or fell on it.

At any rate.........

I couldn't begin to list every plant that could harm by means of exposure or ingestion.........

But I hope no one tells the Fixer about Poison Ivy, or Poison Sumac or Poison Oak, or Virginia Creeper or Wisteria, or Water Hemlock or...... you get the idea.....

PS; while most of us, myself included, will not follow good guidance all the time; it really is wise, if hiking into a natural area, where some contact with plants is to be expected ( narrow foot path etc), wear pants, wear long sleeves; don't touch what you can't identify.

In most cases, not following that guidance won't get you in trouble...........but sometimes.........it will.

And shoes (not sandals).

For many, nature is to be feared and controlled.

 

[Northern Light]

Spring in action in Toronto's ravines, w/nature coming to life.

Photos taken April 16-20, 2022:

Bloodroot about to flower:

Bloodroot in Flower

An Ostrich Fern beginning to stretch out:

First Trillium I've seen on its way up, no flower just yet....

Blue Cohosh emerging:

Finally, some Wild Leeks (ramps)

 

[Northern Light]

A couple of shots of Wild Plants from travels in Toronto's ravines this week:

Wild Ginger having a good year:

Some Wild Leek slowly forming a colony (the big leaves), but having to duke it out w/the non-native, invasive Garlic Mustard (all the small leaves close to the ground):

A shot of Virginia Waterleaf in the foreground, May Apple and then Blood Root in the background:

 

[Northern Light]

A good article in the Globe and Mail on Phragmites, a highly invasive species of reed from Europe that has been taking over wetlands, drainage ditches and more throughout Southern Ontario for years.

In the battle against invasive species phrag, Ontario is arming itself with money, herbicides and helicopters

The invasive European common reed – known as Phragmites – has taken over much of Ontario; but the province is looking to fight back

www.theglobeandmail.com

The article comes on the heels of the province announcing 16M over 3 years to manage the problem; and problem estimated in a 2019 report to require 90M per year for several years for an effective strategy.

This is a common problem, Ontario could far more effectively manage all invasive species by investing something closer to 1B per year, probably for a decade or so, and then largely wiping out all that damage, and restoring native landscapes. Eventually a much lower sum could be spent, preventing re-establishment of problem species.

By under spending, we allow the problem to spread/worsen, or at best stabilize.

 

[ImmenselyMental]

@Northern Light I didn't know this thread even existed. I felt like this was the most appropriate thread to talk about responding to wild plants.

Although I am not particularly keen on flora like you are, I went to Evergreen Brickworks Park back on June 26, as the City was deploying goats to graze on wild plants in the area. Here are a couple of photos I took when I was there:

Compared to other livestock animals, goats are more capable of consuming wild plants, and are used to control their spread.

 

[SubHuman]

It's something I don't know much about, but I saw this website on invasive species -- mostly plants, insects, and fish -- in Ontario.
https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/

I had also never heard of this large project in Simcoe County that involved removing non-native plant species and replacing with native ones, mostly to create a specific habitat for an endangered bird and other rare species.

Habitat Restoration - Simcoe County

Museum Tract – Forest and Habitat Restoration Project Beginning in 2017, the County of Simcoe embarked on a

simcoe.ca

 

[DSC]

This from The Economist ( 17 August 2024) may be of interest.

THE MISSION is simple. Arrive on foreign soil, blend in and wait. Then, when the time is right, emerge from the shadows and take over. This procedure, familiar from spy fiction as the preserve of sleeper agents, is also the modus operandi of certain invasive plant species.

When botanists warn against invasive plants, they are usually referring to those that colonise in plain sight—a group that includes Japanese knotweed. But not all invasive species are created equal. Though some spread like wildfire from the moment they arrive, others seem content to stay put. New work suggests that conservationists ignore them at their peril.

Invasive species that stay put, known as sleeper species, are not hard-wired to do so. Their natural tendency to expand is, instead, held back by some external factor. With the climate rapidly changing, Bethany Bradley at the University of Massachusetts wondered whether expected alterations in temperature and precipitation had the potential to activate some sleeper species. As she reports in a paper in Biological Invasions, a journal, the answer is a definitive yes.

Dr Bradley and her collaborators came to their conclusions by studying 1,795 plant species in north-eastern America identifiable as foreign but not yet locally listed as invasive. Of these, 169 were unquestionably demonstrating invasive behaviour in other parts of the world and causing damage to their environment. That suggested they had the capacity to wreak havoc in America too.

To determine whether the conditions coming to the region would activate any of these 169, the researchers first identified the conditions under which these species would thrive. A number of the plants on their list, including Japanese wisteria, were constrained by the cold winters that are less and less common in the region. They also found that other species, like kudzu (pictured), a climbing vine, required more rainfall than is typical.

According to the team’s findings, climate change is on track to awaken 18 sleeper species that could cause serious environmental and economic problems. The risks include anything from choking rivers to outcompeting plants that pollinators and livestock depend upon. Dr Bradley estimates that they will start to make themselves felt between 2040 and 2060 if something is not done soon. Botanists in other rapidly warming regions should take heed.

The most practical course of action, in her view, is to seek these sleeper species out before they are able to spread. Removing them today may be expensive, but it will be far cheaper than trying to weed them out tomorrow.

 

[just east of the creek]

This from The Economist ( 17 August 2024) may be of interest.

THE MISSION is simple. Arrive on foreign soil, blend in and wait. Then, when the time is right, emerge from the shadows and take over. This procedure, familiar from spy fiction as the preserve of sleeper agents, is also the modus operandi of certain invasive plant species.

When botanists warn against invasive plants, they are usually referring to those that colonise in plain sight—a group that includes Japanese knotweed. But not all invasive species are created equal. Though some spread like wildfire from the moment they arrive, others seem content to stay put. New work suggests that conservationists ignore them at their peril.

Invasive species that stay put, known as sleeper species, are not hard-wired to do so. Their natural tendency to expand is, instead, held back by some external factor. With the climate rapidly changing, Bethany Bradley at the University of Massachusetts wondered whether expected alterations in temperature and precipitation had the potential to activate some sleeper species. As she reports in a paper in Biological Invasions, a journal, the answer is a definitive yes.

Dr Bradley and her collaborators came to their conclusions by studying 1,795 plant species in north-eastern America identifiable as foreign but not yet locally listed as invasive. Of these, 169 were unquestionably demonstrating invasive behaviour in other parts of the world and causing damage to their environment. That suggested they had the capacity to wreak havoc in America too.

To determine whether the conditions coming to the region would activate any of these 169, the researchers first identified the conditions under which these species would thrive. A number of the plants on their list, including Japanese wisteria, were constrained by the cold winters that are less and less common in the region. They also found that other species, like kudzu (pictured), a climbing vine, required more rainfall than is typical.

According to the team’s findings, climate change is on track to awaken 18 sleeper species that could cause serious environmental and economic problems. The risks include anything from choking rivers to outcompeting plants that pollinators and livestock depend upon. Dr Bradley estimates that they will start to make themselves felt between 2040 and 2060 if something is not done soon. Botanists in other rapidly warming regions should take heed.

The most practical course of action, in her view, is to seek these sleeper species out before they are able to spread. Removing them today may be expensive, but it will be far cheaper than trying to weed them out tomorrow.

The Economist (which everyone should read) is spot on. And this is not necessarily ‘new’ news or data. NAFTA related organizations reported on these trends 20 or more years ago. And there has been much study since. The problem extends beyond plants, bees for instance, but protections on a wider scale should be part of a food security policy for current and future generations, that encompasses variables such as land, practices, policy, education, research…

 

[Northern Light]

@DSC @just east of the creek

I concur.

May I add.........we really don't manage invasive species effectively at all.

So this is a multi-stage problem .........

We let stuff in that we should not; we accept it when we aren't sure about its invasiveness, we respond too late to its invasiveness, and generally in an uncoordinated, and 1/2 hearted manner.

Offhand I can think of one invasive species we mostly got under control, which is purple loosetrife. Though there are indications of it mounting another comeback.

Outside of that, from Japanese Knotweed to Dog Stragling Vine, to European Buckthorn to Norway Maple to Phragmites....... we simply don't have a properly coordinated program aimed at either eradication, or severe containment.

Instead, we remove some here, we remove some there.......usually not even completely, and the problem spot is as bad as ever 5 years later.

Aside from poorly conceived scale, partly from lack of knowledge and partly from under funding...........these things really don't work if the efforts aren't coordinated across borders., both provincial/state, and national. Seed travels downstream, and down wind primarily, though also in animal and bird droppings.

So logically you start from a point (in our part of the world) that is typically the most northern and western (prevailing wind), and you work your way systematically so things don't reappear. (that also means sweeps in successive years).

But you also need to replant, with natives, including understory, aggressively. Nature abhors a vacuum and will refill that blank spot you leave, as often as not, with something invasive, given a probable seed bank sitting in the soil.

****

This is, as noted, a problem for wildlife/insects as well. From Emerald Ash Borer to Asian Longhorn Beetle to Asian Carp in the Mississipi River system threatening the great lakes.

On the latter, it is possible, though hugely expensive to net off sections of the river, and electroshock them. This won't kill most species, but will knock fish unconscious and they then float on top of the river, for a short minute or two. We could skim the problem away.

To be clear, I'm being trite, an effort at scale would take years, costs hundreds of millions, if not billions and is a bit more complex than that for a host of reasons (carp often like to bottom dwell, you might need divers); you'd want to remove eggs if possible, and you may need to remove some endangered species before hand so as not to cause harm, then reintroduce them after.

But, of course, when the problem first arose, the fix would have been much smaller, cheaper and faster.

This is a real thing btw...........

Getting Rid of Invasive Species With a Little Electric Shock

Getting Rid of Invasive Species With a Little Electric Shock

www.discovermagazine.com

Just not done on the right scale.

 

[lenaitch]

Or, you know, not import them in the first place. A lot of invasive species hitch-hiked in ship ballast, wooden skids, etc. but some, like the Asian Carp, were introduced on purpose. It reminds me of the 'there was an old lady who swallowed a fly' ditty.

 

[Northern Light]

Or, you know, not import them in the first place. A lot of invasive species hitch-hiked in ship ballast, wooden skids, etc. but some, like the Asian Carp, were introduced on purpose. It reminds me of the 'there was an old lady who swallowed a fly' ditty.

No question. Norway Maple were a very intentional introduction too........they are road salt resistant, and pollution tolerant and grow in shade.

So Toronto thought they would make great street trees here.........and we planted many thousands..........

Sigh.

As if the unavoidable problems we have aren't enough, we actively create more.