Introduction to the Weeds

The likelihood of an impoverished Earth of weeds and remnant human societies is growing stronger every day. Human population, climate change, toxic pollution, and dwindling resources needed by living beings are all reaching points of no return. In a few years, it could be too late to prevent global catastrophe.

The ability of weeds to reach and thrive in damaged and inimical environments suggests that they may be the principal survivors of the impacts to nature by human overpopulation, pollution, and climate change. Here are some thoughts on the matter.

Weed Links:

One of our weeds:

Alkali Heliotrope (also known as Quail’s Delight).

Alkali Heliotrope (Quail’s Delight) Heliotropium curassavicum var. oculatum. A. Pair of flower spikes. B. Young fruits. C. Fruit composed of four small brown nutlets about 1/16 inch long. D. Single nutlet. Older flowers are at the fork of the uncoiling spikes. A native perennial, the plants spread to form protective carpets over bare ground. Drawing: Lucretia Breazeale Hamilton. Copyright (c) 1972 The Arizona Board of Regents. Reproduced from Parker (1972) with permission of the University of Arizona Press.

Alkali Heliotrope (Quail’s Delight)
(Heliotropium curassavicum var. oculatum ).

Alkali Heliotrope’s tiny fragrant flowers delight bees and gnats. The uncoiling spike, a flower-studded fiddleneck, reveals little beauties pure white with yellow-green eyes that purple in sunlight. This bluish green perennial grows to about one foot, but mostly it forms flat patches of overlapping branches up to four feet wide. The plants are hairless, but lightly dusted with a white powder that easily rubs off.

A native of arid North America, the plants colonize exposed alkaline or saline soils and the banks of streams and washes in arid western U. S. and Baja California. You will find similar varieties around the world. I’ve seen this one growing beside a canal in Tempe, Arizona, and a very similar variety beside limestone rocks near Fourteen Mile Creek in Oklahoma.

Quail’s Delight can edge into a lawn or garden. Removal by pulling is a simple cure, but the plant has no thorns or burrs and you might wish to leave it on unused sites where it will protect your soil from wind and water erosion.