I was lucky enough to give an Invasive Plant presentation on Mayne Island last week to the garden club there. It was a beautiful day on the island and I had the opportunity to tour around the island a little bit to look at their species of concern. While it is no surprise that Scotch Broom is a major concern on Vancouver Island and many of the Gulf Islands, I was surprised to learn (and see) that Daphne Laurel (Daphne laureloa) was a major emerging concern for them.What made this all the more interesting to me was that this summer, when delivering and invasive plant course to our regional BC Parks staff, Daphne Laurel was listed as the number one plant of concern/greatest threat to BC Parks ecosystems by BC Parks. At that time I was a little perplexed. Yes, we see it a little in our region but the biggest threat to BC Parks, really? While our crew tackled the few we found in BC Parks this year, I am now very glad we did. Seeing the "rising" of Daphne on Mayne Island was enough to convince me that we need to put this one into our "priority for treatment" category for our 2012 field season.
What is particularly concerning about Daphne is that it can dominate the forestunderstory. While many of our other invasive plant species colonize forest edges, they need light and so do not continue to venture into the the canopy cover of the forest. Daphne is a shade plant. It will quickly displace native vegetation and provides no habitat or food value for animals or birds. The plant itself is actually poisonous. To learn more about Daphne Laurel and its control, check out this great resource developed by the Coast Invasive Plant Committee Daphne/Spurge Laurel Control in BC
Before controlling Daphne Laurel, please review the above document as there are toxic effects of handling this plant and safety measured must be taken. Further information regarding safety while controlling this plant are available from Worksafe BC.
The picture to the right is of Daphne on the forest edge on Mayne Island, BC. Photos by Jennifer Grenz.
