Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-03-02
The Most
Beautiful Pest
On Earth

III
beautiful pest in the world. the south and espe-
ciay in Florida ii has rival for that dubious honor
Layman alike freely gives it that designation
hard classify these lovely blooms nuisances
when they make such brave showing as they stretch
and mile mile across fresh water surfaces
In fact these flowers often mistaken for orchids by per-
sons seeing them and this is why they
have water orchids" Probably
massng of flowers impressive since the plants
grow luxuriantly in a wild and INTENDED state.
Yet that just the they condemned by all
practical people For these and untamed not to
say untameabe plants choking thousands of square
miles Of good open waters and killing fish, endangerlnG
bridges by ping up against their supports and generally
making important fresh water unnavigabe.
Although called water hyacinth this pest is not true
hyacnth which 1t resembles Actually 1t belongs to the
pckerel family which is known in India and parts
tropical America well in this country from New
England Florida and Oklahoma. The family consists
several dozen plants that found on
swanps and ponds hyacinth is considered the
spectacular 1t grows floats and travels the top
Its pendulous roots hang downward into
which its nourishment The leaves
the plant of peculiar roundness and have airled
growths that make it float the water like cork.
beautiful flowers shaped like tunnels and appear
in small clusters rising the middle of the plant AL
though it is beautiful plant to those who really know
it call dsparagingly the million dollar weed because of
the damage it can and does do
ironic the plant introduced into the
United States by accident Some exhibition plants
brought Brazil in 1884 and shown at the New Orleans
Cotton Exposition So attractive were they to woman
living Mateo the St Johns River Jackson
Vile Florida that she took several bulbs home with her
She planted them in her garden the rivers
edge
If she had known fast these hyacinths grow
multiply she might have thought twice. The plant
doubles itself every 20 days single square foot will be
1000 square feet within months So it wasn't long
before the beautiful flowers over-ran her garden Not
knowing what else to do with them she tossed the surplus
plants into the river
Ten years later estimated that this plant had
spread so million square yards of the surrounding
No one knows to estimate how much
surface the blossoms and their leaves cover today.
everyone knows how thoroughly the hyacinth
spread throughout Florida other SOUTH
States has cost State and Federal governments
millions of dollars to keep streams navgable and it has
done millions of dollars worth of damage its nickname
Of the 'mllion-dolar weed" signifies
The efforts to wipe complicated for many
years catemen believed hyacnth made good
for their and its growth Now they
know differently for scientists have shown that II vrtu
ally worthless for that purpose But by the time this fact
was established the plant had once more grown entirely out
Of control and the problem OF graduating
to be virtually hopeless.
Two methods of killing it have been introduced. One is
TO mount special cutting machine onto fatbottomed
bargeke boat and It like marine moving machine
Dozens of these outfits operation in the South.
one Of these little 500 per day
but the plants run little 10000 tons to the square
there are 1u1saHts OF INFESTED square miles At
a0cost OF 100000 square mile this method while helpful
in the ohoked areas is prohbitive
The second method Is poisonous sprays Experiments
along nearly years The
sprays did their work we'll but too expensive. Most
important they poisoned cattle and fish This year how
ever spray mas Dt deNeopeu mat is SAID TO XIII hya-
cinhs but does not harm fish cattle The fish cattle
won't touch plants that sprayed with it.
But a method Of using this development has yet
10 be worked out far cost is Even this
prohibitve 1t is doubtful if the billions plants
throughout half dozen could
by IT, Even few. hidden away that they missed
could very short same ehoked con-
ditions.
However there barriers that help keep
down the hyacnth II cannot live in salt cold
Of IS degrees will kill It. Otherwise could spread all
great country and choke all the lakes
The hyacinth is aggressive enough it is The pcs
ssts fought for years think that floating
and travelling flower will bloom forever America despite
anything that do.