If we thought about the wonder of the process, perhaps we would see more beauty in the things we walk by. Who decided dandelions were ugly? On a country property, perfectly acceptable. In an urban one, your neighbors are pissed, as if there aren't more important things to think about. Taming nature is a fool's task. Living with it is harmony.
I would presume dandelions are considered flamboyant, and that they outcompete crops and ornamentals by possessing greater ability to adapt: i.e. being able to survive sun, lack of rain, and bad soil. Also, it is an invasive species.
I utterly reject the word "invasive." This substack is called, “Speaking for the Trees, No Matter Where They’re From” because one of my major themes here is critiquing the “invasive” plant narrative. The word is worse than useless for describing plants or ecological relationships — it is highly misleading.
The claim that Dandelions “outcompete native species” is debatable at best, though I’d just characterize it as ridiculous. Dandelions are most often found in places where most other plants can’t take the abuse we are dishing out, like lawns, cracks in the pavement, and overworked fields. The Dandelion is not “outcompeting” another plant if we’ve made it difficult or impossible for the original native plants to grow there anymore. Calling Dandelion “invasive” and saying it “outcompetes” native plants is blaming the messenger. This name-calling totally distracts from understanding what’s really going on in the habitat where it’s found.
The Dandelion is one of my all time favorite plants and I won’t put up with it being slurred like this in a comment attached to my writing. Would you tolerate it if someone was ragging on one of your friends undeservedly? I hope not.
I would argue the most invasive species of all is Homo sapiens, and that ironically most of the invasive species we complain about we have dragged there with us all over the planet. That's not particularly a defense of dandelions, just an observation.
That is correct, but Steve Irwin said that it takes 10,000 years for a species to become native, so humans are now native to nearly everywhere in the world (assuming current populations wiped out earlier populations, this could mean they are native everywhere except for Antarctica).
Indigenous people I know welcome and love the Dandelion, who helps humans and the earth in so many ways. "Outcompete" by being strong survivors who do so much good? So who is the most harmful "invasive species" in the US -- the Euro-descent invaders and later immigrants who are harming plants, animals, and the environment. They should leave first and leave us the magnificent Dandelion.
I believe indigenous people and environmentalists HATE non-native plants, which is why recently growing native plants has been encouraged to protect them from extinction.
It's absurd to say that indigenous people believe in any one thing. Indigenous people are not a monolith, and their beliefs fall along a spectrum, like everybody else. While some indigenous people might hate non-native plants, others certainly do not, as Bev Jo points out.
I recommend you check out this 2017 peer-reviewed paper about a First Nation near to you entitled, "Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species." The researchers, who include indigenous people concluded: "We found that Anishnaabe tradition bearers are more concerned about an “invasive land ethic” than the threats of invasive species."
Thank you. He has been learning from the nativists for only about a year. I'm too overwhelmed to write more, but hopefully your wonderful work and many posts at https://milliontrees.me will reach him. Most of the people I meet in nature repeat the nativist the parks depts., etc., are spouting, but change quickly with other information.
Last week I visited a friend who is in our Coalition to Defend East Bay Forests whose group for a while were able to stop UC's tree killing with lawsuits. I hadn't realized that her home was the one that had been saved by three Eucalyptus who protected it and nearby homes from the 1991 Firestorm (that burned so many houses not surrounded by Eucalyptus). Other neighbors want a plaque put up to memorialize those trees. I think the city, county, and state should do a public ceremony honoring them, which would get attention about how they stop, not spread fire. I wish the Raptors and Monarch Butterflies who so depend on Eucalyptus could talk to nativists too.
Where do you live and why do you think that? "Environmentalists" are very different and too many are privileged invaders themselves. Maori people have given Maori names to the introduced plants they love and use.
I live in cottage country in central Ontario, and there has been talk by advocates and cultural commentators for over a year about the need for native plants. It is true the tyranny of fleece exists within eco-capitalists and hard greens.
Where I live now the summers are very dry and when pademelons ( marsupials, like kangaroos ) come to our garden at night they are welcomed by dandelions on the driveway that we let flourish. In summer they munch out the middle, leaving the bitter older leaves. And the dandelions do not seem to mi.d at all. They keep on giving it up.
I was incredibly angry about the "process" yesterday when I discovered that "invasive" lawn grasses strangled the life out of the two tiny Garry oak seedlings that had grown from acorns I planted a year and a half ago. Thank you for this lovely post.... and I will never stop hating lawn grasses!! :-)
We tend to ascribe "good" or "bad" to species, disregarding that nature doesn't differentiate this way. Mass extinction events and their subsequent radiations in biodiversity happen all the time, especially on the local level. Consider all the countless islands, each with its own particular richness, wiped out by volcanoes or other tectonic cataclysms. Evolution is always moving forward, and ecological voids will be filled given time. Here in the southeastern US, we have an imbalance of deer. Yet there is increasing evidence that cayotes are evolving to prey on them in packs like the extinct red wolves that once were apex predators. The resilience of nature is awe-inspiring. I appreciate your thoughtful essay; keep up the great work! Cliff
Great read ! I love dandelions for their pretty flowers and resilience. I don’t quite understand why so many people dislike them. They typically grow in poor soil, so a lawn full of them is a sign that the owner does not take good care of the lawn, why he/she are concerned over patches of dandelions? For a well-maintained lawn, the chances of dandelions taking over are minimal. So why make a big fuss over a few? They’re just part of nature...
If we thought about the wonder of the process, perhaps we would see more beauty in the things we walk by. Who decided dandelions were ugly? On a country property, perfectly acceptable. In an urban one, your neighbors are pissed, as if there aren't more important things to think about. Taming nature is a fool's task. Living with it is harmony.
I would presume dandelions are considered flamboyant, and that they outcompete crops and ornamentals by possessing greater ability to adapt: i.e. being able to survive sun, lack of rain, and bad soil. Also, it is an invasive species.
I utterly reject the word "invasive." This substack is called, “Speaking for the Trees, No Matter Where They’re From” because one of my major themes here is critiquing the “invasive” plant narrative. The word is worse than useless for describing plants or ecological relationships — it is highly misleading.
The claim that Dandelions “outcompete native species” is debatable at best, though I’d just characterize it as ridiculous. Dandelions are most often found in places where most other plants can’t take the abuse we are dishing out, like lawns, cracks in the pavement, and overworked fields. The Dandelion is not “outcompeting” another plant if we’ve made it difficult or impossible for the original native plants to grow there anymore. Calling Dandelion “invasive” and saying it “outcompetes” native plants is blaming the messenger. This name-calling totally distracts from understanding what’s really going on in the habitat where it’s found.
The Dandelion is one of my all time favorite plants and I won’t put up with it being slurred like this in a comment attached to my writing. Would you tolerate it if someone was ragging on one of your friends undeservedly? I hope not.
I would argue the most invasive species of all is Homo sapiens, and that ironically most of the invasive species we complain about we have dragged there with us all over the planet. That's not particularly a defense of dandelions, just an observation.
That is correct, but Steve Irwin said that it takes 10,000 years for a species to become native, so humans are now native to nearly everywhere in the world (assuming current populations wiped out earlier populations, this could mean they are native everywhere except for Antarctica).
Indigenous people I know welcome and love the Dandelion, who helps humans and the earth in so many ways. "Outcompete" by being strong survivors who do so much good? So who is the most harmful "invasive species" in the US -- the Euro-descent invaders and later immigrants who are harming plants, animals, and the environment. They should leave first and leave us the magnificent Dandelion.
I believe indigenous people and environmentalists HATE non-native plants, which is why recently growing native plants has been encouraged to protect them from extinction.
It's absurd to say that indigenous people believe in any one thing. Indigenous people are not a monolith, and their beliefs fall along a spectrum, like everybody else. While some indigenous people might hate non-native plants, others certainly do not, as Bev Jo points out.
I recommend you check out this 2017 peer-reviewed paper about a First Nation near to you entitled, "Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species." The researchers, who include indigenous people concluded: "We found that Anishnaabe tradition bearers are more concerned about an “invasive land ethic” than the threats of invasive species."
https://www.academia.edu/36568069/Anishnaabe_Aki_an_indigenous_perspective_on_the_global_threat_of_invasive_species
Thank you. He has been learning from the nativists for only about a year. I'm too overwhelmed to write more, but hopefully your wonderful work and many posts at https://milliontrees.me will reach him. Most of the people I meet in nature repeat the nativist the parks depts., etc., are spouting, but change quickly with other information.
Last week I visited a friend who is in our Coalition to Defend East Bay Forests whose group for a while were able to stop UC's tree killing with lawsuits. I hadn't realized that her home was the one that had been saved by three Eucalyptus who protected it and nearby homes from the 1991 Firestorm (that burned so many houses not surrounded by Eucalyptus). Other neighbors want a plaque put up to memorialize those trees. I think the city, county, and state should do a public ceremony honoring them, which would get attention about how they stop, not spread fire. I wish the Raptors and Monarch Butterflies who so depend on Eucalyptus could talk to nativists too.
I was talking about the indigenous rights movement.
There is not consensus among people in the indigenous rights movement on topic of introduced plants.
Where do you live and why do you think that? "Environmentalists" are very different and too many are privileged invaders themselves. Maori people have given Maori names to the introduced plants they love and use.
https://keepingreallesbianfeminismsimple.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/help-defend-our-undocumented-immigrant-plants-and-animals-as-we-should-do-our-humans/
I live in cottage country in central Ontario, and there has been talk by advocates and cultural commentators for over a year about the need for native plants. It is true the tyranny of fleece exists within eco-capitalists and hard greens.
Great piece.
Thanks, Max!
Where I live now the summers are very dry and when pademelons ( marsupials, like kangaroos ) come to our garden at night they are welcomed by dandelions on the driveway that we let flourish. In summer they munch out the middle, leaving the bitter older leaves. And the dandelions do not seem to mi.d at all. They keep on giving it up.
Thank you! So true!
Thanks Bev Jo, and thanks for replying to the commenter above.
I was incredibly angry about the "process" yesterday when I discovered that "invasive" lawn grasses strangled the life out of the two tiny Garry oak seedlings that had grown from acorns I planted a year and a half ago. Thank you for this lovely post.... and I will never stop hating lawn grasses!! :-)
We tend to ascribe "good" or "bad" to species, disregarding that nature doesn't differentiate this way. Mass extinction events and their subsequent radiations in biodiversity happen all the time, especially on the local level. Consider all the countless islands, each with its own particular richness, wiped out by volcanoes or other tectonic cataclysms. Evolution is always moving forward, and ecological voids will be filled given time. Here in the southeastern US, we have an imbalance of deer. Yet there is increasing evidence that cayotes are evolving to prey on them in packs like the extinct red wolves that once were apex predators. The resilience of nature is awe-inspiring. I appreciate your thoughtful essay; keep up the great work! Cliff
I really appreciate this writing and couldn't agree more!
Great read ! I love dandelions for their pretty flowers and resilience. I don’t quite understand why so many people dislike them. They typically grow in poor soil, so a lawn full of them is a sign that the owner does not take good care of the lawn, why he/she are concerned over patches of dandelions? For a well-maintained lawn, the chances of dandelions taking over are minimal. So why make a big fuss over a few? They’re just part of nature...