...brought to you by the CNPS San Diego Chapter's Native Gardening Committee.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Reverse invasion?

Garden Design Magazine published an article online about a new monkeyflower (mimulus) that was discovered in Scotland. This photo accompanied the article:




The really interesting aspect is that the mimulus is a cross with a California native, apparently. The article states, "The ancestors of the new species were introduced from the United States and South America's Andes Mountains in the 1800s."

And it is not  a sterile hybrid, because, for some reason, it duplicated its entire genome, due to some quirk. Cindy Burrascano says, "To me this is just another example of a potential invasive species with unknown consequences for the habitat it is invading."

Every bit of change in the universe has consequences. None of which we can fully predict or even begin to think we can control. And I find that exciting.



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