Red Plant ID

Yes it is blacklisted. And just because it's blacklisted, this doesn't mean the LPS will not try and sell it and plead ignorance.

 

Hi Guys,

In view of the fact that I am involved in the whole plant legislation story, I want to write a clarifying note here.

If a plant is blacklisted it means that it may not be imported, but if the plant is in the country it may be multiplied and sold, it may just not be freshly imported. So the petshops selling this plant are not doing so illegally. However, if a plant is viewed to be an invader, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) may ban the local multiplication and sale of an aquatic plant species. For example, Eichhornia crassipes, is one such species in which trade is banned. If I was to guess which other plants may be added to that list soon, then Elodea will be one of the first as it poses a real threat of invasion on cooler areas of the country such as the highveld and the Western Cape, so TASA should now already start sensitizing folks to this (which I am hereby doing). So it does not matter if a petshop has been selling Elodea for many years, ignorance by law also does not make you innocent, if they are invasive they should not be sold, schluss. Petshops are going to have to do their homework properly in future and find out what the laws and regulations are with regard to aquatic plants, just saying you didn't know is not good enough.

The case in hand is for example if you have a dagga plant in your backyard that you do not know about, and the police discover it, they can arrest you, find you guilty in a court of law and you can be sentenced to fine or prison sentence.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Bellstedt - What??? You mean dagga is blacklisted :laugh:

Sorry about questioning the "red plant - Alternanthera reineckii" but as I said before, mine has never had green leaves. I have looked up the care , lighting etc and it all goes a long way to explain the "leggyness" of mine. More light, more light, more light....and CO2 but too soon in my hobby for CO2.