Who are you calling alien?

This wiliwili tree, like nearly all of the endangered plants in the dryland forest, stands in an ocean of fountain grass. Right now, because we've had a rainy year, the fountain grass is pretty green. Fountain grass was imported as an ornamental and now covers hundreds of thousands of acres of West Hawaii. Leaving aside the danger it poses to the native forest, from a purely visual standpoint, fountain grass is beautiful (even "ornamental"). At some point, though, the fountain grass burns. Burning is part of its natural life cycle. The native trees have some resistance to file, but the native pili grass doesn't grow nearly as thick. Hence, the fires in a pili grass landscape burn at a lower temperature. Fountain Grass fires can reduce native trees to ghostly outlines of white ashes on the black background. Fountain grass is an alien species, but then so am I. I'm a member of the most dangerous species on earth.

anbsp;