Three beautiful but dangerous aliens

As humans travelled to explore, trade and wage war, plants established themselves in their wake to flourish in areas they had never been seen before. Mike Burgess looks at three alien species whose pretty flowers belie their destructive impact on South African biodiversity.

Although cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), pompom (Campuloclinium macrocephalum) and lantana (Lantana camara) can be found across most parts of South Africa, they are all native to South and Central America.  

Their individual journeys across the Atlantic Ocean to Africa may have been unique, but what they all have in common is that they established themselves with great success in various South African ecosystems. Their presence in South Africa not only disturbs us (they are all subject to state-funded eradication programmes), but also delights us with their flowering spectacles.

COSMOS