Zev Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Yes, the corokia - Gorse is a pest plant Description Gorse, Ulex europaeus, also called furze or Irish furze, is a spiny, evergreen exotic shrub which can grow up to 15 feet tall and 10 to 30 feet in diameter, depending on location. Branches end in a spine and are covered with green scale-like or prickly leaves 1/2 to 2 inches long. Showy yellow pea-like flowers, 1/2- to 3/4-inch-long, grow in clumps near the tips of its branches. The hard seeds are very small, shiny, and brown and are enclosed in 1/2 inch long hairy pods (Boyd 1985; Cook 1987; Hoshovsky 1986). Young gorse plants have a compact, rosette-like form, thin triple leaflets, and no thorns. Adult plants are usually shrub-like but may also form mats or cushions in exposed coastal sites. Individual plants grow outward forming a central area of dry, dead vegetation (Hoshovsky 1986). Damage Gorse is extremely competitive, displaces cultivated and native plants, and impoverishes the soil. It creates an extreme fire hazard due to its oily, highly flammable foliage and seeds, and abundant dead material in the plant’s center. It not only increases the risk of fire, but also produces a hotter fire than most weeds (MacCarter and Gaynor 1980). Because of various characteristics of the plant, the soil is often bare between individual gorse plants, which increases erosion on steep slopes where gorse has replaced grasses or forbs. Spiny and mostly unpalatable when mature, gorse reduces pasture quality where it invades rangeland. Gorse understory in forests interferes with cultural operations, increasing pruning and thinning costs (Balneaves and Zabkiewicz 1981). Distribution Gorse is native to western and central Europe, where it has been cultivated for centuries as hedgerows, and in France as reserve livestock forage. Early European emigrants introduced gorse to more than 15 countries or island groups. In New Zealand, gorse was once planted on large estates for the provision of sheep feed on land too poor to grow other crops (Cook 1987; Markin et al. 1995; Bell 1939). Gorse has become a major weed of agriculture and forestry on the West Coast of the U.S, as well as in New Zealand, northwest Spain, Tasmania and Australia, and at high altitudes in Hawaii (Gaynor and MacCarter 1980). The geographical distribution of gorse depends primarily on temperature. It cannot survive in arid climates, or in continental regions where there are extremes of heat and cold. Day length may also affect its latitudinal distribution, as short-day conditions inhibit maturation and prevent thorn formation and flowering. Gorse will grow on most soil types, including acidic soils with less than 4% organic content (Zabkiewicz 1976; Hoshovsky 1986). Gorse grows well in shady slopes with high soil moisture and good drainage. Look for gorse in areas with degraded soils or disturbed sites such as roadsides, pasture lands, gravelly floadplains, cleared forests, or other areas following a disturbance (Cook 1987; Zielke et al. 1992). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Remember not to use fresh wood in your aquarium. It will leach sap and who knows what else. And poor little native corokia - let it live! They are beautiful plants. :tears: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Saw this at the New Dowse, I like the chopping block. http://www.regangentry.com/featured/of-gorse-of-course/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Phoenix44 put some 'nice red' branches in his tank once that were fresh off a tree, if I recall correctly they went furry and he took them out not long afterwards. Yes. Nicest wood ever. BUT IT KILLED MY FISH. :tears: :tears: GBA babies dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piggyvir Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Nice website !! emm.. I am not too sure about the Corokia.. still quite keen to put it in my tank.. I have asked my friend to get me some gorse and I will keep you guys posted ! P44 - any pic of the nicest wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I just wanted to say regarding driftwood.....after weeks of searching the farm and other places for a nice piece I finally decided to take a walk down at forest pools (local swimming hole in the Puketi forest) and to my amazement I found 3 spectacular pieces within 5 minutes, just by wading in the river, and fossicing around the downed trees and big piles of drift wood you always find in rivers. Of course you need to be very careful in these areas, especially in deeper water, very easy to get washed underneath it all. The major bonus is this wood has been underwater for ages and will sink straight away....so take a look down at your local river, you'll be surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Best time to search is after a storm or flood (make sure it is safe though of course) as new pieces will have been flushed out and washed down stream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 P44 - any pic of the nicest wood !drool: Killed my fish even though people said the weird white force field like thing was harmless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 Yuck that's the ugliest wood I've ever seen :sick: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 Kind of you to mention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piggyvir Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 that's a pretty cool set up !!! pity that that wood doesn't suit aquarium environment.. (Sorry for such late response.. I have been super busy with my garden these days ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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