Some of Oregon's most beautiful flowers are invasive species. The yellow Scotch broom is one of them. It's everywhere along roadsides in spring and summer. It's stunningly beautiful to look at, but alas, it does not belong here and overwhelms other species. It costs the state of Oregon a whopping $47 million each year in lost timber production plus a few more million for other problems caused by the plants. A student won an award for a process to turn it into biofuel. I took this photo at Coffenbury Lake on the east side in the picnic area. The purple flower is called red foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). It's also non-native, but it doesn't spread as fast and is not as tenacious as Scotch broom.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Beautiful invasive species at Coffenbury Lake
Some of Oregon's most beautiful flowers are invasive species. The yellow Scotch broom is one of them. It's everywhere along roadsides in spring and summer. It's stunningly beautiful to look at, but alas, it does not belong here and overwhelms other species. It costs the state of Oregon a whopping $47 million each year in lost timber production plus a few more million for other problems caused by the plants. A student won an award for a process to turn it into biofuel. I took this photo at Coffenbury Lake on the east side in the picnic area. The purple flower is called red foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). It's also non-native, but it doesn't spread as fast and is not as tenacious as Scotch broom.
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