Purple Dewplant Disphyma crassifolium
A South African native plant, Purple Dewplant, was first recorded outside a garden in 1961 in Jersey. Recently this plant found its way to St. Ouen’s Bay, probably on the feet of a bird. On the sandy foreshore of the bay it has become a threat to the native flora because it spreads exponentially on the dunes where it has no natural predators. This plant creates mats of foliage which swamp native flora. It has little wildlife benefit because few local invertebrates and pollinators utilize the Dewplant.
Recently the Botany Section applied to the Roy Overland Trust for a grant to remove some of the Purple Dewplant. We were successful and received £3,000 to remove some of the Dewplant from the strip of land belonging to Simon Sand. Nurture Ecology was given the contract to hand pick, collect and remove from the site this noxious alien plant.
