Alien Invasion with Tequila II

Alien Invasion with Tequila II

Just a note. The Yucca comes from the Agave family of plants. This group of plants is well adapted to the hot dry desert areas of Central America, Mexico, New Mexico, etc. and many Yucca's are grown as ornamental plants. Being naturally tough..particularly on dry sandy soils, as well as having the ability to survive freezing temperatures, no surprise that they are grown as ornamentals throughout the Pacific Northwest..even though we aren't in their natural range.

Agave's include (Yucca's) those that are distilled (with the worm) into a....liquid that is a favorite refreshment of thirsty revellers... The Blue Agave (see http://www.itequila.org/made.htm) is the source of the refreshing drink (and some memory loss). Thus my play on words. I'll take some photos of Yucca's (and palms) that are growing here on the peninsula as ornamentals.

Come to think of it though..if the rain disappears here and I've choice between drinking saltwater and Tequila..well, maybe those Blue Agave's would survive here. The moth's the real issue (moth pollinated).

What Kathleen and I found fascinating was that this plant was feral. What this speaks to is the domestication of our local environments by the collision of two forces. Humans (and our penchant for gardens) and available habitat for non-native plant species (or animals for that matter). A warming earth would theoretically expand the range of such plants..but for the plants to truly undergo a range expansion..the pollinators also have to expand (like bats and moths) otherwise..no plant sex and they must withstand other impacts (disease, herbivores, etc.).

See my earlier posts on European Dune Grass. The Yucca was growing in a "sea" of European Dune Grass. Now isn't that fascinating as in where am I?

Jim