China Youth Daily client Shanghai, November 25 (China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Wang Yejie) a few days ago, the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Gardens and Forestry, the Transportation Bureau, the Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Wuhan Customs and other 8 departments jointly held the "Canada A Branch of Yellow Flower" prevention and removal work conference caused netizens to watch, and once rushed to the first place in the hot search list. The meeting called for the completion of the task of "one yellow flower" on the ground in the city, including farmland, roads, and scenic spots, by November 20, and effectively controlled the spread and impact of harm.
The siege of an invasive plant throughout the city has aroused great public concern. Many Shanghai citizens also posted on social platforms that they had also seen "a yellow flower" in Shanghai's flower and bird market. To this end, Yan Jing, an engineer at the Chenshan Botanical Garden in Shanghai, told the public in an interview with reporters today that the yellow warbler flowers in the flower and bird market are not "a yellow flower".
Yellow warbler flowers are freshly cut
Flower lovers who have visited the cut flower market must have seen a plant with tiny yellow buds called "Solidago 'Golden Wings'" (Yellow Warbler). Its small yellow flower buds open to one side and form a string of outwardly extended branches, which in turn form a large conical inflorescence called a "scorpion-tailed conical inflorescence". In the early 21st century, the "yellow warbler flower" replaced the "starry sky" and became the new favorite of the cut flower market.
Yan Jing said that the physical characteristics of the "yellow warbler" are almost exactly the same as the Canadian yellow flower (Solidago canadensis). But the latter was included in the "Second List of Invasive Alien Species in China" in 2010.
It is reported that a branch of yellow flowers in Canada is extremely fertile, each independent plant can produce more than 20,000 seeds a year, seeds can spread by wind, it occupies the ecological niche of local species through strong competitiveness, so that local species lose their living space, while releasing allelopathic substances to inhibit the growth of other plants, forming a large area of single-excellent community, reducing species diversity. It not only destroys the naturalness and integrity of the landscape, but also invades farmland, vegetable fields, and orchards, causing a decline in crop quality and yield, and even leading to the abandonment of arable land.
A yellow flower in Canada
"In 2003, studies showed that many native species in Shanghai had disappeared due to the invasion of a Canadian yellow flower." Yan Jing said that a yellow flower in Canada is also known as "overlord grass" and "poisonous grass", which is the so-called "yellow flower blooming where a hundred flowers kill."
She introduced that since 2018, more than 5 invention patents have been for the control of a Canadian yellow flower, such as the use of wormwood and/or reeds to biologically replace a Canadian yellow flower, the use of animal and plant synergy control (white striped silver moth larvae), the use of organic wet garbage cover, the use of biological composting preparation treatment, the development of new cutting and cutting tools, the use of dogtail grass water extract made of biological agents.
It is reported that "a yellow flower in Canada" was first seen in Mr. Chen Fenghuai's "Handbook of Cultivated Plants in Lushan Botanical Garden" (1958), and in 1936, Lushan Botanical Garden had been introduced for cultivation, and Mr. Xu Bingsheng's "Shanghai Botanical Directory" (1959) first reported that the species was naturalized in Shanghai, until the 1980s began to spread into malignant weeds, until now it has erupted into a disaster.
A Canadian yellow-flowered fruit
It and the yellow warbler belong to the Asteraceae family, there are about 100 species in this genus, mainly concentrated in North America, and a few species are produced in Eurasia. Native to North America, the Canadian yellow flower is a polyploid complex consisting of subspecies or variants with at least 6 chromosomes, which consists of multiple species or variants. According to the molecular marker results, there are two main sources of "yellow warbler flowers" on the market, one is a rough yellow flower (Solidago altissima), and the other is an invasive Canadian yellow flower, but no matter which classification, they belong to the Canadian yellow flower complex.
As for the statement circulating on the Internet that "the yellow warbler is a sterile hybrid horticultural variety and will not cause any harm", it is not accurate. Yan Jing said that although the probability of invasion harm caused by cut flowers is small, the risk of planting a large number of cut flowers due to the market demand for cut flowers exists, so the large number of "yellow warbler flowers" should be paid attention to, "at least not discarded at will." ”
Source: China Youth Daily client