Crazy fields of multi-colored lupine everywhere! Super beautiful, but super invasive to the local environment.
The Russell Lupin, a North American native, was introduced to New Zealand in the mid 1900’s as a decorative plant, as well as a high protein feed crop for sheep. Unfortunately, the lupine quickly and aggressively spread along river beds, choking out native vegetation and wreaking havoc with endangered bird and animal species. For the past couple of decades the New Zealand government, along with private environmental organizations, have worked together to eradicate the lupine in high-priority habitat zones, while still allowing farmers and ranchers to responsibly grow the nutritious plant for their livestock to consume.
Hopefully they can continue to manage the undeniably beautiful plant so that the farmers and sheep, as well as affected species like the endangered black stilt, the wrybill and the banded dotterel, can thrive well into the future!
They are so beautiful, invasive or not….