Invasive Plant Species Of The Margallah Hills National Park
Some Common Species
Lantana
Scientific name: Lantana camara Local name: Panch Phulli
Lantana originates from Tropical America. About 3 m tall, this is an evergreen shrub with pink and yellow, occasionally orange flowers. It competes aggressively with local plants on the south-facing slopes of the Margallahs where it has overtaken native vegetation along stream beds, roads, croplands and even forest areas and pastures. Although its seeds are edible the leaves are toxic to livestock. Lantana contains an aromatic chemical which causes them to burn even when green.
Common Cocklebur
Scientific name: Xanthium strumarium
Local name: Kandiari
Cockelbur originates from North America. Reaching about 1.5m this shrub regenerates annually, flowering from July to October. The fruit are oval- shaped burs covered with hooked spikes that enable them to stick to the coats of animals or clothes of human beings. It is buoyant and floats down-stream to colonise new areas, spreading rapidly on a wide range of disturbed soils along roadsides and eroded stream beds. Both seeds and seedlings are toxic to livestock.
Carrot Grass
Scientific name: Parthenium hysterophrus
Local name: Gandi Booti
This weed comes from Central America. The plants, which regenerate each year, are up to a a metre tall, produce clusters of small white, disc-like flowers. It spreads through seeds and is a highly invasive ruderal plant in the Margallahs where it colonises disturbed areas in overgrazed rangeland, alongside roads, trails and tracks. All parts of this plant are plant are poisonous and may cause skin allergies and respiratory problems in humans and their livestock.
Invasive Alien
Species
Paper Mulberry
Scientific name: Parthenium hysterophrus
Local name: Gandi Booti
This weed comes from Central America. The plants, which regenerate each year, are up to a a metre tall, produce clusters of small white, disc-like flowers. It spreads through seeds and is a highly invasive ruderal plant in the Margallahs where it colonises disturbed areas in overgrazed rangeland, alongside roads, trails and tracks. All parts of this plant are plant are poisonous and may cause skin allergies and respiratory problems in humans and their livestock.
Marijuana
Scientific name: Broussonetia papyrifera
Local name: Valaitee toot
The land that is Islamabad today was just agricultural fields 40 years ago, at that time the city managers in a desire to green the new city on a fast track decided to import this fast growing broad leafed tree from China. It grows fast and once taken root can grow over a meter in a good monsoon. It reaches a maximum height of about 12 m and, like all deciduous trees, it loses its leaves in winter. It reproduces rapidly from seeds or roots and has spread along the lower south-facing slopes and lowland regions of the Margallahs.
Related Posts
