Pretty Depressing

Tuesday 4 January 2022

For the third month in a row the attempt to work on the track at Thark Ridge was thwarted by weather. This time drizzly mist, although we didn’t venture up there as it was visible from our meeting point. Instead, it was agreed to check for reported Foxgloves in the Waterworks Reserve.

Several were found along the old track beside Sandy Bay Rivulet before reaching the reported location of a large patch. It was indeed large, and we only cleared two smaller close by areas as it was felt there were too many for us to deal with. On return several Foxgloves were spotted in an open grassy location beside a bend in the track.

As we headed for lunch at the hut in the Waterworks a few were noticed, which we decided to leave until after lunch. But once back there the extent of the Foxglove invasion was just overwhelming. It would take a lot of resources to get rid of them. A check on Listmap indicated this location is within the reserve.

We also noticed a lot of Spanish Heath and patches of Foxgloves over the fence at the dam edge. Hopefully Taswater will tackle that before it gets completely out of control.

According to a website on Foxgloves it is in the second year that flowering occurs. Two of the sites that we cleared were predominantly small plants, but both sites had a single old dead plant with a tall seed head. This may indicate that it was only last year that the spots were first invaded. The website also mentions that Foxgloves are poisonous and discusses the care that should be taken when tackling them.

There is also a page on iNaturalist fiving information