By BRIDGET CARTER
Weeds that feature on a national blacklist are being sold illegally in nurseries and garden centres nationwide.
The Department of Conservation says it is worried about the number of banned species that can be ordered from plant shops through the website www.plantfinder.co.nz
DoC scientist Susan Timmins says banned plants
have the potential to destroy native species and finding them for sale is disappointing. The website lists nearly 10 illegal plants.
Of the plant stockists the Weekend Herald contacted yesterday, seven said they sold species including Chilean rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), royal fern (Osmunda regalis) and Christmas berry (Schinus terebinthifolius), which is also known as Brazilian pepper tree.
Marilyn Wightman, of The Fragrant Garden in Feilding, said she sold purple loosestrife because no one had told her it was banned.
Robin Kendrick, of Fronds New Zealand, sells royal fern at his Cambridge outlet and also did not know it was banned.
He said he would take it off the market immediately.
Margaret Russell, who owns Riverview Nurseries in Whenuapai, said she sold royal fern but was getting rid of it.
Some nurseries said DoC and local authorities should do more to alert businesses to changes to the list of banned plants.
Last year, fine-stem needlegrass, or nassella tenuissima, which is on the list, was recalled from a chain of garden centres in Auckland.
The grass is closely related to nassella tussock, which has invaded pasture and coastal land in Northland since its discovery there in 1968.
Anyone selling the banned plants faces a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $50,000 fine.
David Harrison, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's bio-security department, said a list was drawn up last year of 96 plants that could not be sold in New Zealand.
As part of an agreement called the National Pest Plant Accord, 13 regional councils have agreed to inspect plant outlets and destroy and remove any unwanted species they find, but anyone can report plants being sold illegally.
Mr Harrison said all the plants on the list could damage the environment or were a danger to agriculture and human health.
The Nursery and Garden Industry Association chief executive, Jeremy Kennerley, said plant sellers should know better.
He said many nurseries were now run as large-scale businesses by people who were not horticulturists.
nzherald.co.nz/environment
