Old Man's Beard
hat do you do about a plant pest that continually invades your reserves from infestations outside? This is a question the Rangitikei Forest and Bird branch has been facing for some years. Their solution? Tackle the seed source! The plant in question is old man’s beard Clematis vitalba, a prolific grower that can produce more than 100,000 seeds per plant, 64 percent of which are viable. The seeds are dispersed by wind and water and can persist in the soil for 8-10 years. The vines kill plants through strangulation and smother-ing and can climb quite tall trees (a 30-metre pukatea in one instance in McPherson’s Reserve). Over the years the branch has removed old man’s beard from its five reserves to the point where they just need monitoring for reinvasion. To protect the reserves from reinfestation the branch has been working closely with farmers, the Department of Conservation and the local councils to control huge infestations of old man’s beard all along the Turakina River.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI20010501.2.32
Bibliographic details
Forest and Bird, Issue 300, 1 May 2001, Page 41
Word Count
168Old Man's Beard Forest and Bird, Issue 300, 1 May 2001, Page 41
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