An invasive weed considered much worse than leafy spurge has arrived in Saskatchewan.
Saltcedar, or tamarix, has been moving north from the southern United States for 50 years.
Weed experts have been expecting it and two cases were confirmed last summer south of Swift Current and northwest of Regina, near Findlater.
Officials say it’s likely the seeds were transported in construction equipment that moved north.
The saltcedar plants near Swift Current were probably introduced when a track hoe was used to expand a dugout. A single plant was found on top of the dirt pile at the edge of the dugout.
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The work took place in 2005 and the plant was 2.4 metres tall when discovered.
Arlene Unvoas, executive director of Swift Current Creek Watershed Stewards Inc., said she had just produced a bulk mail-out for residents last summer to raise awareness about saltcedar when the man delivering the mail to rural route mailboxes noticed it on his own property.
“He called me immediately,” she said, adding it was likely the fastest return on an awareness campaign she will ever get.
The landowner is now closely watching the edges of the dugout and warning people to pay attention to their land.
“It has started to create a little bit more awareness,” Unvoas said. “I wish it would have created a bigger stir.”
At Findlater, six plants were found in a small area within a highways ministry gravel pit.
Crushing had taken place in the pit in 2008 and the largest plant was about one metre tall. The site was quarantined but gravel had already been hauled from the site.
The locations that received the gravel will be monitored for the next few years.
Saltcedar is an example of good intentions gone wrong. It was brought to the United States from Eurasia and Africa for use in windbreaks, as an ornamental and to stabilize stream banks.
By the 1930s, however, the pretty, pink-flowered shrub had invaded western river systems and spread throughout the U.S.
It spreads by seed but will also grow from roots if a plant is damaged or removed.
A single mature saltcedar plant can produce 500,000 seeds in a growing season. The seeds are small and easily dispersed by wind and water. They can germinate within 24 hours of contact with water.
Saltcedar is also tough. It can be submerged in water, tolerate drought and grow in saline conditions.
The main concern with saltcedar is high water use. It can consume as much as 200 gallons per day through 30-metre-deep tap roots and a 50-metre-wide root system. This can lower water tables below the root zones of native trees and kill them.
It also excretes salt that can kill plants that aren’t saline tolerant. Salt moves up through the roots, accumulates
in the leaves and is excreted with other minerals through leaf glands.
The leaves increase soil salinity when they fall on the ground.
As a result, saltcedar can take over entire tracts of land. In the U.S., it has replaced large cottonwood and willow stands and destroyed riparian areas. It is also difficult to restore land that has become saline because of the plant.
Saltcedar is on the list of invasive plants in many North American jurisdictions, but nurseries and retail centres continue to sell it to homeowners as Pink Cascade and Summer Glow.
