'Non-invasive' cultivar? Buyer beware
Friday, October 7, 2011 - 03:32
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Cultivars of popular ornamental woody plants that are being sold in the United States as non-invasive are probably anything but, according to an analysis by botanical researchers published in the October issue of BioScience. Tiffany M. Knight of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and her coauthors at the Chicago Botanic Garden write that the claims of environmental safety are in most cases based on misleading demographic evidence that greatly underestimates the plants' invasive potential. What is more, the offspring of cultivars do not usually "breed true" and may be more fecund than their parents, especially if they cross with plants from nearby feral populations.