HEADER PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS PART OF THE HEAVILY INVADED BANKS IN MANSE STREET, BELOW WHANGAREI GIRL'S HIGH SCHOOL.
Several areas within the Whangarei City Area are badly overrun by noxious or 'Pest' species. Included are District Council areas, one of the worst affected being the Waiarohia Stream banks.
MANSE STREET, Whangarei City.
called BOTANICAL NAME : Crocosmia - there are red and orange forms of this of this 'Pest Plant', the common name of which is Montbretia. A small genus of flowering plants belonging to the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to the grasslands of South Africa.
This pest species multiplies by seed and underground corms. It invades bush and grass areas crowding out native species or cultivated plants. It is know to cause erosion of stream banks due to the masses of spreading corms.
Shown in the picture left, is Crocosmia growing on the bank in Manse Street.
BELOW - Two photographs taken below Manse Street on the far bank of the Waiarohia Stream, which show the invasive grass, Kikuyu. (See Weeds & Grasses section). The large photograph is the bank at Whangarei Girl's High School, top of Mance Street, a very badly invaded area by multiple species.
This pest species multiplies by seed and underground corms. It invades bush and grass areas crowding out native species or cultivated plants. It is know to cause erosion of stream banks due to the masses of spreading corms.
Shown in the picture left, is Crocosmia growing on the bank in Manse Street.
BELOW - Two photographs taken below Manse Street on the far bank of the Waiarohia Stream, which show the invasive grass, Kikuyu. (See Weeds & Grasses section). The large photograph is the bank at Whangarei Girl's High School, top of Mance Street, a very badly invaded area by multiple species.
In the photograph above of the the Manse Street bank below Whangarei Girl's High School, we have several 'Pest Plants' including Vinca major (periwinkle or fairy's toothbrush); Ipomaea indica (blue morning glory), which has taken over the fence on school grounds; Hedera helix (common Ivy); Alocasia brisbanensis (Elephant's ear), and Kikuyu Grass. This area is of particular interest as it is above and directly opposite the Waiarohia Stream and Waiarohia Reserve.
Impatiens sodenii : Shrun Balsam.
BOTANICAL NAME : Impatiens sodenii - common name Shrub Balsam or Poor Man's Rhododendron, is a member of the family Balsaminaceae. It was grown as a garden plant by early settlers, up until the late 1960s when it was classified as a 'Pest Plant' by local bodies.
Pictures show I. sodenii growing on the bank in Manse Street, opposite the Waiarohea reserve. The photograph also shows a species of Bamboo (bottom right) that was used to bind the soil on the bank, but has since been killed by spraying. It has been left to hold up the bank.
Pictures show I. sodenii growing on the bank in Manse Street, opposite the Waiarohea reserve. The photograph also shows a species of Bamboo (bottom right) that was used to bind the soil on the bank, but has since been killed by spraying. It has been left to hold up the bank.
REGENT - Brachychiton Being Throttled By Invasive Ivy Species.
THE WAIAROHIA STREAM BANKS
WAIAROHIA STREAM. This area covers from the Manse Street bank to the Waiarohea Reserve.
BELOW - This photograph shows a number of 'Invasive Species' including Ipomea, Alocasia, Solanum and others.
BELOW -NOTHING BUT PEST PLANTS IN THIS SHOT taken from Manse Street, looking towards private land above the Waiarohia Stream. How many species can you name?
BELOW - A Privit (Ligustrum sp.) holds centre stage here, but look at all the 'Pest Plants' surrounding it.
WHAT A POTENT MIX WE HAVE HERE! - (below) Datura; Woolly Nightshade; Hedychium (Wild Ginger); Araujia (Moth Plant), Alocasia; Crocosmia, and others.
Another shot of the Waiarohea bank, An area that has been completely taken over by Japanese Walnut (juglans ailantifolia).
This Pittosporum eugeniodes won't have much longer to live. Death moves in like a string of white Christmas lights in the form of Araujia hortorum, the dreaded moth plant that is becoming more and more rstablished on the Waiarohia Stream banks.
Believe it or not this photograph (below) of the Waiarohia Stream bank was taken in January 2013. It shows the far bank (opposite Western Hills Drive) completely overrun by Ipomaea (Blue Morning Glory), which is smothering the plants, and it may already be too late to save them. Spraying will be out of the question, so the best method of saving these trees and cleaning up this area, may be to crawl around underneath with a pair of seceturs and cut the stems of the climbing plants, or clear-fell the whole area and start from scratch, as is being done behind Whangarei Boys High School further downstream. Part of this bank is private land and part of it (closer to the stream bank, belongs to the Whangarei council).
Other 'Pest Species' in this picture are Ligustrum sinensis (Privit); Juglans ailantifolia (Japanese walnut), Hedychium species (Wild Ginger) and Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle).
Other 'Pest Species' in this picture are Ligustrum sinensis (Privit); Juglans ailantifolia (Japanese walnut), Hedychium species (Wild Ginger) and Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle).
BAMBOO : Bamboo Grass
BOTANICAL NAME : Bamboo species. Bamboo is also the common name and the flowering perennials. The Bamboos (Bambusoidaea) consists of 1439 different species,in 116 genera, none of which should be grown in Northland, not even in containers. It is one of the 12 subfamilies of the grass family (Poaceae). Bambusoidaea, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae contain the largest members of the grass family.
Bamboos are some of the fastest-growing plants in the world. The photograph above was taken from Western Hills Drive looking across the Waiaarohia Streamand shows how devastaitingly efficient killers Bamboos are. They have a unique rhizome-dependent system which grows incredibly fast. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product, but in Northland and other parts of New Zealand, they quickly get out of hand and as shown in the photograph, smother everything else to death. Unfortunately new imirants to New Zealand value the plants and are sharing with friends for their new gardens, which is a big problem for bio-security and an ongoing ecological problem for the furure.
Bamboos are some of the fastest-growing plants in the world. The photograph above was taken from Western Hills Drive looking across the Waiaarohia Streamand shows how devastaitingly efficient killers Bamboos are. They have a unique rhizome-dependent system which grows incredibly fast. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product, but in Northland and other parts of New Zealand, they quickly get out of hand and as shown in the photograph, smother everything else to death. Unfortunately new imirants to New Zealand value the plants and are sharing with friends for their new gardens, which is a big problem for bio-security and an ongoing ecological problem for the furure.
Fine Leaf Bamboo.
Pictured left is a fine-leaf bamboo (taken in Manse Street) that was very poular as a hedge plant in the past, and there are still a number of hedges of this species of Bamboo growing around Whangarei & Districts today. Bamboo was also used by early settlers to plant on unstable banks to bind the soil. Bamboo can be killed by spraying (see photograph of Imatiens sodonii).
A HEDGE OF BAMBOO IN MANSE STREET, WHANGAREI. It looks as though Hedera (Ivy) is making a play for domination. Manse Street is the most noxious street in Whangarei, as far as 'Pest Plants' go...
Syzygium.
Syzygium smithii : Monkey Apple.
Syzygium smithii (formerly Acmena smithii) Monkey Apple : Pictured here growing on the bank above the Waiarohia Stream on Western Hills Drive. Very attractive for a 'Pest Species'. Its berries are edible.
For further information see listing under Noxious Plants.
For further information see listing under Noxious Plants.
WESTERN HILLS DRIVE BANK, Below Coronation Reserve.
Being directly below one of Whangarei's finest Bush Reserves and bush walks, it is particularly disturbing to find such a large number of 'Pest Species growing in this area.
Several species are quickly taking over this bank alongside Western Hills Drive. The main offenders are Prunus campanulata (Taiwan Cherry), Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle), Solanum mauritanium (Woolly Nightshade) Gorse (Ulex europaeua) and others.See picture below.
Prunus campanulata:
BOTANICAL NAME : Prunus campanulata. Common name - Taiwan Cherry, Taiwan cherry, Formosan cherry, or bellflower cherry. An invasive species in the Northland Region. It is illegal to distribute, sell or propagate the plant or distribute soil, gravel etc. that contain the seeds or other parts of the plant. It was widly grown by the Auckland City Council for parka and reserves in the 1950s and 60s.
Pink flowers appear in spring before the leaves, and are followed by small cherries that are spread by birds. It is gradually taking over the banks on both sides of Western Hills Drive in Whangarei city, as shown in the photographs below.
Pink flowers appear in spring before the leaves, and are followed by small cherries that are spread by birds. It is gradually taking over the banks on both sides of Western Hills Drive in Whangarei city, as shown in the photographs below.
THESE TWO PHOTOGRAPHS Show Prunus campanulata taking over the bank below Coronation Reserve on Western Hills Drive. Above is the flower of P. campanulata, very attractive, but deadly to our native flora.
BELOW - A disgraceful mess of Prunus, Gorse and Woolly Nightshade... and part of a passing vehicle.
THE WAY IT SHOULD LOOK - This photograph shows the Russell Road end of the Coronation Reserve bank on Western Hills Highway. The way it could all look.
WAIAROHIA RESERVE.
CORONATION RESERVE.
The southern or Kauika Road West entrance to the Coronation Reserve in Whangarei displays a mix of Hedychium (Wild Ginger), Alocasia brisbanensis (Elephant's Ear) and Zantedeschia aethiopica (Arum Lilly), while inside the lower part of the reserve the undergrowth is a carpet of Tradescantia fluminensis (Wandering Jew or Wandering Willy).
Northern or Russell Road entrance to the Coronation Reserve, Holman Track. The new steps that were installed in 2012 showing an inasion of gorse seedling up the sides on the disturbed areas. This will need spraying befor it flowers and spreads to the lower bush. Photograph taken 0n the nineteenth of January, 2013.
ONERAHI: BOSWELLS TRACK - Old Railway Path.
The path of the old railway track forms a viaduct over the ilet of the Whangarei Harbour. On either side there is regrowth native bush, but this is by far out grown by introduced 'Pest Species' such as Acacia species (Wattle), Callistemon rigidus (bottlebrush), Erythrina crista-galli (Coral Tree), Banksia species, and other pest species.
Below are some photographs of this area, taken late 2012. When you park your car at the end of the access road, you are confronted by a large Coral Tree (Erythrina).
The next two photographs show introduced Australian 'Pest Species', very much appeciated by the birds, but not by environmentalists.
Acacia species : Wattle.
BOTANICAL NAME : Acacia species - There are seceral species of wattle growing in this reserve. Picture left shows the Black Wattle, and above along the bottom of the Eucalyptus photograph you can see a flowering Accacia species.
Acacias are commonly known as a wattle in New Zealand, but are also known as thorntree or whistling thor, but mainly in Africa where the species are covered in thorns. Fortunately the main species that are 'Pests' in the New Zealamd bush are Australian species, which have smooth bark. A genus of shrubs and trees that belong to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, they were first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Australian species that grow wild in New Zealand are pod-bearing trees or shrubs, not all of which are 'Pests' The sap and leaves typically bear a large amount of tannins that historically, in many species, found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives. In 2005 the 1300-odd species, of which about 960 of them are native to Australia, was divided into five separate genera under the grouping Acacieae. The genus Acacia was retained for the majority of the Australian species and some Pacific Islands species. Most of the species outside Australia, and a small number of Australian species, were reclassified into Vachellia and Senegalia, and two other genera, Acaciella and Mariosousa, for about a dozen species from the Americas. It is a good idea to regard all species as problem plants.
Acacias are commonly known as a wattle in New Zealand, but are also known as thorntree or whistling thor, but mainly in Africa where the species are covered in thorns. Fortunately the main species that are 'Pests' in the New Zealamd bush are Australian species, which have smooth bark. A genus of shrubs and trees that belong to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, they were first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Australian species that grow wild in New Zealand are pod-bearing trees or shrubs, not all of which are 'Pests' The sap and leaves typically bear a large amount of tannins that historically, in many species, found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives. In 2005 the 1300-odd species, of which about 960 of them are native to Australia, was divided into five separate genera under the grouping Acacieae. The genus Acacia was retained for the majority of the Australian species and some Pacific Islands species. Most of the species outside Australia, and a small number of Australian species, were reclassified into Vachellia and Senegalia, and two other genera, Acaciella and Mariosousa, for about a dozen species from the Americas. It is a good idea to regard all species as problem plants.
ONERAHI'S WAIMAHANGA WALKWAY - GEORGES POINT ROAD TRACK.
THE RAUMANGA STREAM.
The Raumanga Stream runs from the Raumanga Falls in the Raumanga Scenic Reserve, through Raumanga Valley Park. The banks of the stream are infested with a number of species of invasive plants, including Willow, Ginger, Prunus campanulata and others.
BELOW : Castor Oil Plants (with the red foliage), grow on a bank in Raumanga. What a shocker. This plant contains one of the deadliest poisons - Ricin. The castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic medium shrub. A dose as small as a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human. AND THIS PLANT IS GROWING ON A BANK OF THE STEAM IN RAUMANGA -WHY?
NEWS 18.4.13 - " Authorities have revealed that a letter addressed to President Obama contained a substance that preliminarily tested positive for the deadly poison ricin."