Can misleading labels be blamed for invasive plant species causing harm to native ecosystems? This Reddit user felt tricked by potentially misleading packaging from McKenzie Seeds.
In a post in the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit, the user shares a photo of seed packages on display at a store in Canada. The labels read, "It Grows Here Guarantee." The consumer took this to mean that the plant was native, until further research resulted in vague answers.
The Reddit user concluded, saying: "This has been done purposefully to mislead buyers into believing seeds are native, while maintaining some plausible deniability."
Commenters on this thread were quick to point out that they interpreted the label to mean the plants would be able to grow in Canadian climates, not that they were necessarily native species.
Rewilding your yard to include native species will be beneficial in the long run, saving money on water bills, removing the need for harmful pesticides, and helping pollinators.
The conversation led to a larger issue of the lack of clarity and information regarding native or invasive plant species being sold in stores.
Invasive species are not native to a certain area. Should an invasive plant species thrive, it can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. Yet, invasive plant species are still sold in stores all over the world.
An example of this is cogongrass, a weed native to Southeast Asia, which is also labeled as one of "the world's worst invasive weeds" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as reported by Smithsonian article.
The article stated that nearly 1,300 other invasive plants are being sold all over the U.S. Despite the fact that cogongrass is being sold as "sterile," there are technically "no known effective biological control methods," according to Cheryl Santa Maria from the Weather Network in the Smithsonian story.
Commenters on the Reddit thread had mixed opinions when it came to interpreting the seed packages.
One user wrote: "'It Grows Here' sounds like 'if you plant this seed in this location it will grow.' It does not sound like 'this is a native seed.' Just my opinion," to which other commenters agreed.
On the other hand, commenters pointed out similar instances of stores selling invasive plant species without accurate labeling.
The original poster recounted a similar experience, saying: "I definitely got taken by those 'wildflower' and 'pollinator mixes' as I naively believed invasive species surely wouldn't be sold or so readily available."
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