Pink river side flower for ID please :-)

[AlphaZeroOne]

There is a very small nature reserve locally with a small brook running through it. Its a place that I often walk. Last year I saw a small amount of Himalayan Balsam.

This year it has simply invaded the edges of the reserve, overflowed into local lanes and river banks and literally become the dominant plant in the local area for miles around. Rather than pop the seed heads, pull the thing up from the roots!

I believe that is now illegal to allow it to grow on your land and should be destroyed where ever its found - this advice came from a professional environmentalist.

It also seems that local councils have a responsibility to eradicate it on council and public land. However, I don't think that my local council have woken up to the problem yet. Their only obvious reaction so far is to fence off part of the nature reserve and put it to grazing with a few cattle.

I am not a radical conservationist and believe that there is too much hot air around many things - the greatest threat to wildlife is the destructive nature mankind. Its all about a balance at the end of the day. Our country is what is it today due to a number of introduced species but when an introduced and invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam becomes rampant and destroys the local ecological balance, its time that some common sense should prevail.

[ChrisR]

I haven't come across Himalayan Balsam much around my area (south Oxon & West Berks) but in the West Country it can be fairly rampant. It poses some really difficult problems though for anyone wanting to eradicate it because cutting is impractical and using poisons risks polluting the watercourses it usually grows beside. It also looks very pretty so I can imagine that many private individuals who have it growing in their gardens or on their land would object to destroying it and so it would always come back from those safe havens

[Jason Claxton]

Yes I agree on its elimination,near me on the River Test it is rampant,it is also being introduced,whether accidentally or not to some of our ponds here.

[TeresaW]

There are vast patches of Himalayan Balsam AND Japanese knotweed along the banks of the River Wensum here in Norwich. It's a very pretty flower but that is it's only good point. To me it doesn't even smell nice, nasty pungent scent to it.

I will say, the great bindweed is getting it's own back at the moment, but it's too late, it's seeded itself already.

Between those two plants and the signal crayfish, the Wensum isn't ours any more.

[AlphaZeroOne]

Originally Posted by TeresaW

There are vast patches of Himalayan Balsam AND Japanese knotweed along the banks of the River Wensum here in Norwich. It's a very pretty flower but that is it's only good point. To me it doesn't even smell nice, nasty pungent scent to it.

I will say, the great bindweed is getting it's own back at the moment, but it's too late, it's seeded itself already.

Between those two plants and the signal crayfish, the Wensum isn't ours any more.

The smell is very pungent. One of the reasons that it is spreading so rapidly lies in its name: Impatiens glandulifera. The seed pods become very taunt and, when ripe, will 'explode' on touch, scattering the seeds for a fair distance - impatient to spread it's seeds. Its the same family as the Busy Lilly that can be found in most garden beds as a summer bedding plant.

As with most things in nature, there are the inevitable contradictions. The flowers of the HB are rich in nectar and so attract a whole range of different insects - the British bees need all the help they can get - and the green seedpods and young shoots can be eaten on salads etc. But the point is that it just wipes out local plants. There are some studies that suggest that it might even produce a toxic chemical that inhibits the growth of other plants - a possible reason for the strong unpleasant smell. Even Mother Nature can wield chemical weapons!