Guide to the Non-Native Invasive Plants of Britain and Ireland by Rebecca Farley-Brown (Paperback)

Identification guide to 31 species of land plants covered by legislation in the UK and Republic of Ireland Designed to be used outside: lightweight, rucksack-sized, splash-proof WildID Non-native invasive plants guide features 31 species of land plants covered by legislation in the UK and Republic of Ireland. It is a criminal offence to plant or cause to grow in the wild a listed invasive non-native plant. Accompanying text specifies the current legal status of each species. Scientific and common names follow the latest edition of Stace (2019). Although over 1300 non-native plants grow in the wild in Britain and Ireland, only around 8% of these are invasive. They include Japanese Knotweed, American Skunk-cabbage, Variegated Yellow Archangel, Yellow Azalea, Pirri-pirri-bur, Perfoliate Alexanders and several species of Cotoneaster. Unfortunately successful control costs millions, sometimes taking several years to eradicate the plant from a site. Many non-natives have grown in the wild for hundreds of years, while others are more recent arrivals. Some plants came here accidentally, while others were brought in for gardens or agriculture. They reach new sites through the dumping of garden waste, containing fragments like stolons, stems and bulbs, or by seeds spread by birds, mammals, wind and water.