# Killer Plants!!! Watch Out!!



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yes! Apparently growing right in good old sleepy Connecticut there lurk "Killer plants" being battled by "A plant SWAT team" that "spread from lake to lake while MUTATING" and "tearing up the bottoms of boats."

Find out what you can do to avoid these terrible plants!

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_ha...kes_tangled_invasive_plants_200911022122_rev1


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## Nymsley (Mar 24, 2009)

They can kill you! 


But still... I want some clippings for my tank...


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha. I love the reporter's quotes!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

XD See, this is why I prefer my Najas guadalupensis to other Najas spp. - USDA says it's native to all 48 lower states, so no one can object to my sticking it in my (ornamental) pond. :mrgreen:

And I agree with you, that report was hilarious - the plants will pull you under!!!!! D=

Still, if they're having such a tough time getting things to eat their weeds, I've got some goldfish I'll gladly rent out to them... they're pretty well conditioned to devour Najas on sight and I'd bet good money they'd go after myrio and cabomba as well, salad-crunching fiends that they are. XD XD I also found a stem of what looked like Egeria densa in a local pond and fed it to them - problem solved, lol.

I'll also point out that the _native_ range of Cabomba caroliniana reaches up to a mere few states away from here (and for that matter, Kentucky has it listed as "Threatened") so it's not like this is some exotic Asian import - conceivably, aquarium hobbyists may not even be at fault. It could just as easily have stuck to the foot of a goose flying north from its native Carolinas and wound up in our ponds that way. As far as I'm concerned, it's not really right to declare a species "invasive" and pin the blame on us when it can get here by reasonable, totally natural, and uncontrollable means. (Or are we going to start inspecting the feet of every goose that flies by and arrest them if Cabomba is attached?)

But, we could just collect it all and ship it in a few of those large priority flat-rates to Kentucky if they're so concerned about its absence over there :mrgreen:


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

_Najas minor_? As far as I know, that did not come from the aquarium trade, nor is it sold through it. I don't see how anyone could confuse it with _N. guadalupensis_, but apparently, they did.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I suspect the stupid news reporters smushed quotes together out of context - I think the Cabomba and Myriophyllum are the "common aquarium plants" that they're referring to, the Najas minor is just another invasive... the myrio in question is a European species, can't remember which... and I still say geese could be the culprits behind the Cabomba caroliniana... 

Still, with the blockheads the bureaucracy has been known to employ, I wouldn't put it past them to just blame every weed they see on the aquarium hobby in some moronic effort to gather support for an "environmentally-friendly" bill prohibiting the ownership of any non-native species of flora/fauna... well, either that or claim that fishkeeping causes global warming, lol!

Watch, next it will be our fault that dandelions grow in people's yards...


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

The Cabomba could have gotten there, yes. The Myriophyllum you're thinking of is M. spicatum, which is indeed bad. .


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I looked it up - you're right, it's M. spicatum as well as M. aquaticum ("parrotfeather") causing the problems - I know the latter is used as a pond plant, so they're probably right about the fishkeeping hobby being responsible for that, at least.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

There are enough dramatic quotes in the video to get me through yet another day!


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