Anyone who has tried to rewild farmland will know how quickly botanical bullies move in.
Nettles creep in from the hedgerows, squadrons of thistle down invade from the air, while brambles arrive by the less glamorous route of the avian digestive system.
All obviously have their ecological niche, nettles in particular as the food plant for the caterpillars of Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral butterflies.
However, my particular invasive weed is goosegrass, also known as cleavers or hitch hiker.
Last year I noticed it had, using its hooked leaves and stems, sprawled over everything and I thought needed some control.
Research showed that goosegrass, a Galium or bedstraw, can feed Hummingbird Hawkmoth caterpillars, so I had to leave some.
But how had it arrived?
After laboriously pulling up most of the well grown plants I had an answer; scores of the multi-barbed seedpods were attached to my clothing, accounting for the plant’s Yorkshire nickname of ‘sticky willy’.
As I wondered what other unwitting carriers this plant could exploit I heard the staccato alarm call of a robin.
The sound, like running your thumb nail along the teeth of a comb is indicative of a ground based predator; unlikely to be myself as this particular bird regularly took mealworms from my hand.
A flash of amber and glimpse of a white tipped bushy tail meant I had disturbed one of my neighbour’s fox cubs which had chosen my paddock as a suitable place to rest up during the day.
Could the fox cub be carrying the seeds?
I had photographed her and her siblings earlier in the year, so I returned to look for evidence of goosegrass dispersal.
I left dog biscuits where she crossed the wall at dusk; burrs firmly attached to her fur confirmed my suspicions.
She was also moulting, so replacing her juvenile coat with an adult one would help spread the seeds further.
I had found another carrier that could help the plant colonise new ground—and there were surely many more.
Livestock—especially sheep—could carry seeds they failed to eat, as could the cattle that once grazed here.
Deer, badgers and many other animals will also have helped spread it, along with my own clothing.
Share