Chinese Japan
Japanese Knotweed
when i was a kid we called this stuff Polygonum cuspidatum.
for the sake of "consistency", botanists have changed that to either Fallopia japonica or Reynoutria japonica, pick a side, any side.
hey, those guys would be out of a job if they didn't keep switching things up.
the Brits call this plant "Donkey Rhubarb." Aphex Twin composed a piece of music in its honour...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_-99eBBhFc
that said, the plant does not appear in the video. instead, three dancers cavort like Teletubbies on bath salts.
as a member of the Buckwheat Family (Polygonaceae), it is indeed somewhat related to rhubarb.
Japanese Knotweed is a marvelous plant that springs anew from the ground each year, rapidly reaching heights of 1 to 2 metres. its rhizomes reach deep into the soil, stabilising sandy river-banks. in the fall it produces delicate sprays of greenish white blossoms which perfume the air and attract honeybees from great distances. then they die back, adding large amounts of biomass to otherwise poor soil.
oh, and Knotweed is the commercial source for the "life-extension" supplement resveratrol.
the stand pictured above stretches for at least 20 metres and has been thriving in the same spot along the Rideau River for several decades.
as to why people so frantically want to kill the stuff, that's beyond me. stupidity, i suppose. a lot of that going around.
i'm waiting for someone to suggest that we build a wall and make Japan pay for it.
when i cycled by these guys this AM i couldn't help notice that the flowers were THICK with honeybees — nice work (not sarcasm) considering that those poor little buggers are otherwise going extinct.
there's an interesting discussion about F. japonica here...
www.eattheweeds.com/japanese-knotweed-dreadable-edible/
the "backing up" warning sound at the beginning of the video is coming from across the river — construction at the Oblate Lands "Greystone" housing development.
Japanese Knotweed
when i was a kid we called this stuff Polygonum cuspidatum.
for the sake of "consistency", botanists have changed that to either Fallopia japonica or Reynoutria japonica, pick a side, any side.
hey, those guys would be out of a job if they didn't keep switching things up.
the Brits call this plant "Donkey Rhubarb." Aphex Twin composed a piece of music in its honour...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_-99eBBhFc
that said, the plant does not appear in the video. instead, three dancers cavort like Teletubbies on bath salts.
as a member of the Buckwheat Family (Polygonaceae), it is indeed somewhat related to rhubarb.
Japanese Knotweed is a marvelous plant that springs anew from the ground each year, rapidly reaching heights of 1 to 2 metres. its rhizomes reach deep into the soil, stabilising sandy river-banks. in the fall it produces delicate sprays of greenish white blossoms which perfume the air and attract honeybees from great distances. then they die back, adding large amounts of biomass to otherwise poor soil.
oh, and Knotweed is the commercial source for the "life-extension" supplement resveratrol.
the stand pictured above stretches for at least 20 metres and has been thriving in the same spot along the Rideau River for several decades.
as to why people so frantically want to kill the stuff, that's beyond me. stupidity, i suppose. a lot of that going around.
i'm waiting for someone to suggest that we build a wall and make Japan pay for it.
when i cycled by these guys this AM i couldn't help notice that the flowers were THICK with honeybees — nice work (not sarcasm) considering that those poor little buggers are otherwise going extinct.
there's an interesting discussion about F. japonica here...
www.eattheweeds.com/japanese-knotweed-dreadable-edible/
the "backing up" warning sound at the beginning of the video is coming from across the river — construction at the Oblate Lands "Greystone" housing development.