Okanagan's Most Unwanted
watch out for these invasive species
Invasive Species
An invasive species is an organism that is not native and has negative effects on our economy, our environment, or our health. Not all introduced species are invasive.Invasive species are capable of causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats. Invasive plants and animals are the second greatest threat to biodiversity after habitat loss. In other North American jurisdictions many invasive plants are responsible for habitat damage, loss of subsistence resources, and economic loss.
The Hound stongue
A common name is the hounds tongue
A scientific name is also cynoglossum officinial
It grows from 0.5 to 1.2 meters tall
Its bottom leaves are large and hairy (10-30 cm long, 2-5 cm wide)
Stem leaves are short and stalk less
Dull reddish-purple flowers produce for nutlets (seeds) each
The seeds are grayish-brown, rounded triangular in shape and are covered in short hooked prickles
The hounds tongue is a noxious weed found in forest range lands and roadsides in the southern interior of B.C.
No sightings have been reported in the Okanagan bu it is a well established plant in the Okanagan.
Each plant produces 2000 to 4000 barbed seeds a year.
Houndstongue Prevention
Maintain your land in a healthy, vigorous condition to ensure a productive plant community, competitive perennial grasses utilize water and nutrients that would otherwise be readily available to the hounds tongue
Follow a well designed, grazing management plan, excessive livestock grazing reduces competition and favors weeds
Regularly patrol your property for hounds tongue plants and immediately treat new infestations
Cooperate with adjacent landowners and encourage them to control hounds tongue
Re-vegetate disturbed, bare soils to a competitive perennial forage cover immediately after disturbance
Clean burrs from animals and from clothing and shoe before leaving infested areas
picture of hounds tongue
picture of hounds tongue
picture hounds tongue seeds
The European Paper Wasp
After the first apperence in North America, from there it spread across the continent.
IT first appered in Vancouver Island in 2003, possible crossing the continent from the east or on a boat from Asia.
From Vancouver Island it has spread throughout southern B.C.
The scientific name for the European Paper Wasp is Polistes dominula.
It is black with yellow stripes, and spots on their bodies
It has slender, long legs that dangle below their bodies when they fly
They have a narrow waist with gradual constriction
Their nests are shaped like an upside down umbrella, the cells open downwards and are not covered with a paper shell
No sightings have been reported but it is a well established insect in the Okanagan.
They spread when the queen mates with more than one male, then she layes all of her eggs.