Monday, 27 May 2024

Boleskine Environmental Network initiated a project in 2020 to control skunk cabbage around Loch Mhor. 

American skunk cabbage Lysichiton americanus is native to western North America.  It is an Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) in the UK which can establish rapidly in suitable sites and form dense colonies which quickly out-compete our native flora. 

Populations are now present in a number of locations scattered across Scotland, having escaped from botanical collections and private gardens and naturalised in the wild, particularly in wet woodlands and boggy areas. Wet woods are a relatively scarce and sensitive habitat which supports a number of rare plants, so the impact on biodiversity can be significant.  Unfortunately several skunk cabbage colonies are present around Loch Mhor.  Each of these is a fresh nucleus for further expansion, and without control, there is potential for exponential growth in the population. At least three of the sites where it is present hold small numbers of Coralroot Orchid Corallorhiza trifida, a rare plant found in wet sites in north Britain which would likely disappear if skunk cabbage was allowed to spread further. 

Initial funding was raised from the Community Council and local landowners to pay an experienced contractor to treat the largest concentrations.  Volunteers undertook the surveying and monitoring, and tackled the smaller outlying colonies. There was a noticeable decline in all colonies following the first season’s efforts.  Since then control has continued each year and we are seeing fewer and fewer large plants at the known colonies.  However, each colony will have a large seedbank and as seeds can remain dormant for many years, we will need to keep monitoring and removing small seedlings over the next few years until the seedbank is depleted and no more seedlings appear. 

For the control work to be effective, we need to make sure we have found and removed every skunk cabbage colony present, otherwise when control stops the plants will start to spread again.  Please do get in touch (alison.phillip3@gmail.com) if you are aware of any skunk cabbage colonies or if you would like to help us stop its spread around our community. 

Thanks go to the local landowners who have provided support/funding and enabled access to control colonies around the loch and to the community council for funding. 

To find out more about what the Biodiversity Group are doing then head over to the dedicated Biodiversity page HERE!

2026

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