Re: Alien invaders

From: John H. Phillips III (phillips@library.ucsf.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 31 1997 - 15:50:07 PDT


Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 15:50:07 -0700
From: "John H. Phillips III" <phillips@library.ucsf.edu>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2899$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Alien invaders

At 02:43 PM 7/31/97 -0700, you wrote:
>At 12:29 PM 7/31/97 -0700, you wrote:
>> Does anyone know how the Utricularia species was introduced? If it was
>>via wind or waterfowl, would this still make it a "weed"?
>>John Phillips
>>phillips@library.ucsf.edu
>****************************************************8
>>From the Random House Dictionary :
>
>weed 1. a valueless, troublesome plant growing wild, esp. one that crowds
>or damages the desired crop.
>
>>From Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary:
>
>weed (1) : a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is use. of
>rank grouth; esp. one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable
plants.
>
>The word weed is defined by it's value (to mankind) or lack thereof, not by
>who or what spread them.
>
>Regards,
>John in Phoenix
>
Ok, ok. I can see we're splitting hairs here. But I think it was obvious
that I was really asking if the source and cause of the introduction was
known. And if this was still considered an "introduced", non-native species
if the Utricularia in question was introduced by any source other than Homo
sapiens. Many plant species try to colonize as many habitats as possible in
order that their genes survive. ;-)
John Phillips
phillips@library.ucsf.edu



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