Tussilago Farfara

Day 212: Last summer, the invasive plant species Tussilago farfara was discovered at a roadside pullout in the Park. Several theories suggest how it got there; a seed brought in with a load of purportedly "weed-free" road gravel, carried on someone's car bumper or in a piece of mud stuck to the undercarriage, or simply borne on a summer zephyr in some prior year. It has a seed head which resembles that of the common dandelion, little parachutes just waiting to be lifted away to new homes. In any event, several of us who are skilled in plant identification were authorized to monitor the site and to remove it, all but one specimen which our Plant Ecologist wanted as a test subject for chemical control. I had marked the spot with a rock (my companions in Team Biota are now very familiar with "Crow rocks"), but one thing led to another, and before he could treat it, the snows came. I was given permission to remove the plant manually if the site cleared, but the snow persisted for the remainder of the winter. I figured my rock would have been moved by the plow, but day before yesterday, we stopped at the site to check. The rock was still in place, and right beside it, Tussilago was putting up new growth. I lifted it with the dandelion jigger I'd brought along for the express purpose of vegicide and delivered the corpse to Arnie with the phrase, "I have a present for you." I'm watching you, Tussilago.

An Uncommon Evil

Day 201: Not all rare/uncommon plants are things to celebrate; case in point, Tussilago farfara, European Coltsfoot. This invasive has only recently started showing up in Washington and British Columbia, otherwise unreported west of Minnesota and Ontario.

A few days ago, a friend (Park colleague) sent me a cell phone capture of a plant she couldn't identify, apologizing for the lack of clarity in the photo. That said, her image showed enough diagnostic features that I figured I could find it in my field guides. When I could not do so, I asked her for more details about where she had found it, and last Wednesday, the Park's plant ecologist and I stopped by to have a look. We discovered a dozen or so 12-16" stalks each bearing a single closed flower. Peeling one apart revealed what I thought I had seen in Kristyn's photo: a central disk with rays. I was baffled, and Arnie admitted that he had no idea what it was, either. I resolved to go back for more photos on a sunny day when I knew it would be open. Arnie took the next step and referred it out, with the result that it was identified as Tussilago farfara. Arnie told me, "I'll take a couple of herbarium specimens and then will eradicate it early next week."

With a short time-frame in which to get photographic documentation for the Invasive Plant Council, I made a trip to the site this morning. The flowers were just beginning to open with the first rays of sun, and the mosquitoes were out in numbers. By the time I'd gotten a handful of snapshots, I was gnawed from stem to stern. I went off on another natural-resources project for a few hours, and upon my return after noon, the flowers had opened up.

Tussilago farfara may occur in Mount Rainier National Park, but not for long!