South African plant removed from strip of land thanks to grant

A grant has been awarded to a Jersey group to remove a South African plant from part of the island.

Societe Jersiaise said it had received £3,000 to remove purple dewplant, also called disphyma crassifolium, after it was found at St Ouen’s Bay.

The group said the plant probably found its way to the island via 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,” Societe Jersiaise said.

It added: “This plant creates mats of foliage which swamp native flora. It has little wildlife benefit because few local invertebrates and pollinators utilize the dewplant.”

With the funding from the Roy Overland Trust, the plant has been removed from a strip of land on the foreshore.

Societe Jersiaise added: “Nurture Ecology was given the contract to hand pick, collect and remove from the site this noxious alien plant.”