More #PhoenixPalms in a playground area today. Wild seedlings are coming up in the bark around the playground and in the surrounding gardens.

#InvasiveWeeds

Yesterday @KorimakoEcology posted about what a horrible weed Phoenix palm is becoming in parts of NZ. Inspired by that, I went through the observations on #iNaturalistNZ and set "Organism is wild" to "No" for about 50 observations of clearly planted palms. Now, a search for Phoenix palm correctly maps out wild Phoenix palms. (When uploading to #iNaturalist, please do always check the "captive/cultivated" box for planted plants.)
https://inaturalist.nz/observations?order_by=observed_on&place_id=6803&taxon_id=78554

#PhoenixPalms #InvasiveWeed #iNaturalist

Observations

Canary Island palm from New Zealand

iNaturalist NZ

A good example of why #PhoenixPalms are such a problem #InvasiveWeed.

They happily germinate in complete darkness, and this one has pushed up through the pavement and is looking very healthy.

There is the stump of an adult palm on the other side of the fence that was cut down ~18 months ago.