MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley is to introduce legislation shortly that will outlaw the sale of a number of garden pond plants, some of which have colonised major waterways to the detriment of native plant species.
The recent discovery of one of the most aggressive of the non-native plants categorised Europe-wide as “invasive species” near Sneem in Co Kerry set alarm bells ringing in the South Western Regional Fisheries Board.
The recording of the creeping water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora) is the first time the plant has been identified here.
The species of water plants likely to be banned include curly leaved pondweed (Lagarosiphon major), which has become a major problem in Lough Corrib affecting boating and angling on the lake; water fern (Azolla filiculoides), New Zealand pygmy weed (Crassula helmsii), Nuttall’s pondweed (Elodea nuttallii), Parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) and Fringed water lily (Nymphoides peltata).
Nutall’s pond weed has been found on the Killarney lakes in Co Kerry. Believed to originate in the Americas, it has devastated rivers in southern parts of France