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Re: TT: locusts
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RT Ellsberry wrote:
> OK Gary, I'll Take -
>
> As time goes on, TreeTown folks tend to become more firmly committed
> to the wisdom of cultivating locally originating varieties, for the
^^^^^^^^^^^
Precisely my point. I have nothing against honey locust per se, except
that where I live it so agressively colonizes abandoned farmland that it
tends to overwhelm the other indigenous species. So why not select for
(anthropomorphically) positive attributes like thornlessness in those
specimens you choose to cultivate? Thornless honey locust cultivars are
not "exotics" or freaks of nature. They are developed by selectively
interbreeding specimens from native populations whose genetic
predispostion toward the expression of thorniness is less than the
population at large. Where's the fun in horticulture if you always have
to accept the hand that Nature deals you.
> benefits that they provide for other (less-tolerant) ecosystem
> inhabitants. (Not just the native birds, think rare orchids, mosses,
> ferns, insects?) The latter are often ill-equipt to compete against
> 'invading' species from outside their delicate and specialized home
> conditions. Ok, I'm agreeing with you, so with that said ...
>
> Most of us also support our local Arboreta and the research work
> that they do on innumerable tree species -- native, introduced, hybrid,
> grafted and otherwise.
>
> For us 'ordinary' community tree stewards, there can be advantages
> in planting trees that cannot reproduce themselves locally, if we
> enjoy having a few exotic ornamental specimens in our hometown forest.
>
> The non-reproducing would include single-sexed of some species, like
> female hollies or male ginkgos, seedless (engineered) cultivars, or
> trees cared-for so far out of their natural range that they simply
> cannot survive on their own locally. (As I write this, I am expecting
> that somebody out there is really going to let me have it :) ...
>
> Richard@Flora.Com
>
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