Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 10:22:25 -0400 From: Prem Subrahmanyam <prems@noblestar.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1069$foo@default> Subject: Re: CPs on the roadside
At 03:15 AM 4/8/2000 -0700, cp@opus.hpl.hp.com wrote:
>From: Biodan@aol.com
>
> Fouth, and most important, the wildflowers seem to be somewhat
> tolerant
>of the myriads of pollutants inherent along highways - oil, gasoline,
>other toxic fluids, bits of rubber and such from tires, gaseous
>pollutants, and salts and other ice-melting chemicals. I wonder how
>tolerant CPs would be of these environmental horrors? I've seen nice
>patches of CPs (primarily S. flava, S. psitticina, and Drosera)
>alongside roads in Fla and Ga, but I wonder if anyone has done any kind
>of study to see how they're holding up amid roadside pollutants.
The roadsides here in FL where many carnies grow seem to be a very
amenable environment. Most carnies like to grow in wet meadows where
the weeds don't get particularly high or thick, and the process of
yearly mowing seems to help keep the roadsides habitable for them.
There may actually be more carnivorous plants (and bog orchids) in the
state of FL due to the roadways that we have.
Here in FL, we may have fossil-fuel derived pollutants, but we don't
use salt for de-icing roadways...we might get enough freezing rain
or snow once every 20 years or so...almost enough to justify de-icing
roadways, but it usually melts within a day. Carnie populations along
roadways have been well-known for years...and they seem to just keep
growing happily.
> Anyway, the rescuing of plants from habitats slated for destruction
> is a
>good thing - and not just for CPs. Various conservation and/or service
>organizations could undertake this endeavor (Boy Scouts, school groups,
>garden clubs, etc.). Instead of selling them over eBay or something
>similar, they could donate them to neighborhoods, individuals, schools,
>environmentally-friendly businesses and such for their landscaping or
>something. By the way, a little activism might prevent such
>destruction. By using the 'power' of the Endangered Species Act, such
>developments could be stopped altogether!!! Now wouldn't that be nice.
>
Unfortunately, in FL at least, few of the carnivorous plants are listed
as endangered...Ping. ionantha, Ping. primuliflora, and Sarr.
leucophylla. A few are listed as threatened, including Drosera intermedia,
Sarr. rubra, Sarr. psittacina, Sarr. minor, and Sarr. purpurea.
Sarr. flava is common enough that it doesn't even curry a listing at all
on the state endangered lists...I am led to believe, however, that other
state laws specifically protect it and all other carnivorous plants. As far
as state-funded development, it happens wantonly without any regard for
the native botanicals being destroyed in the process, be they threatened,
endangered, or otherwise. To add insult to injury, it is technically
illegal to collect protected botanicals on state lands (like a roadside
right-of-way) even if they're slated for destruction, although I would bet
that nine times out of ten, you would not be harassed for collecting
plants clearly the path of the bulldozers. Try to stop the bulldozers
because they're destroying ecologically interesting plants, and you'll just
get laughed at.
--> Prem
===================================================================
Prem Subrahmanyam <prems@noblestar.net> or <prems@nettally.com>
- Animator, programmer, and orchid and fossil nut extraordinaire...
- DNRC Title: Minister of Lightwave 3d Plugin Design Foolishness
- Home - http://www.PremDesign.com
"We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became nothing to show we were wrong."
"God's Own Fool" - Michael Card
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