The Apocalypse Bingo card for 2023 has so far featured a lot of atrocious blob . First , thestinking sargassum blobcame for Florida and now an invasive ( and whiffy ) weed is steep the Sonoran Desert in Arizona . The odorous carpet is made up of the aptly named “ stinknet ” , and it ’s high-risk news program for humans , plants , and wildlife .
The invasive mourning band in dubiousness isOncosiphon pilulifer , which comes in a deceiving shade of glad - day - yellow despite spelling end of the world for native ecosystems . It originally hail from South Africa and nobody ’s quite sure how it traveled over to the US , but it ’s becoming increasingly apparent that it ’s very at plate here .
“ Maricopa County is intemperately infested now , ” Michael Chamberland toldHigh Country News . The botanist is from the University of Arizona and has being studying stinknet in an effort to get ahead of the spread . “ Stinknet ’s add up up through cracks in the pavement and now working its path down the I-10 corridor . ”
Its capacity to spread is help along by its seeding method acting that broadcast thousands into the zephyr to impetus , land , and often choke out neighboring plant . The vast swathe then become a flame hazard as they dry out out , tie fragmented dapple of aboriginal greenery to create one orotund wildfire hazard that can desolate wildlife , the surroundings , and put human life history at risk .
Stinknet is also problematic for people as it can trigger allergy and make rash if you bear upon it without glove . Should it go down on attack , the smoke it produces is especially irritating to breathe in .
And on top of all of that , it stinks .
“ The strange unwashed name for this incursive plant , stinknet , mean ' stink only ' in Afrikaans because of the works ’s strong smell from its explosive rock oil ; because it is useless for stock feed , it only stink , ” wrote Philip Hedrick and Christopher McDonald in their paperStinknet , A New Invasive , Non - aboriginal Plant in the Southwestern United States .
“ Another name for the plant in Afrikaans is stinkkruid , which signify ' penny grass , ' referring to the strong , unpleasant odor , especially when squeeze , or ' stink herb ' because in the past the plant was used medicinally . ”
According to Hedrick and McDonald , the industrial plant is also sometimes screw as globe chamomile , but they think this name is n’t suitable because “ it makes this noxious weed appear to be related to a desirable herb . ”
So , do n’t be fooled by its buttercup - yellow outside . This stanky former stinknet carpeting is on the move , and it is not our protagonist .
