Category Archives: Damon Waitt

March 24, 2012 · 6:33 pm

Bastard Cabbage Fouls Texas Bluebonnets

Commander Ben beseiged by Bastard Cabbage

What a nice surprise to see Dr. Damon Waitt on TV last night! Dr. Waitt is the Senior Director and Botanist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

He was talking about Bastard Cabbage (Rapistrum rugosum), also known as Mediterranean Mustard. It’s a terrible invasive species that is overrunning Texas wildflowers, especially our beloved Texas Bluebonnets.

I first learned about Bastard Cabbage from him last fall in my video interview with him at the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference. He said that this plant was the invasive species that really worried him.

Seeing Dr. Waitt interviewed by Mr. Jim Swift on KXAN reminded me of that plant, and I had to go out today to learn more about it.

Invasive Species Create Terrible Monocultures

Bastard Cabbage crowds out the wonderful Texas bluebonnets and creates a terrible monoculture. It towers over the bluebonnets, and the rosette at the base of the plant and long tap root steal resources that could have gone to the native Texas wildflowers.

They have a long stem and small yellow flowers. When I saw it when I was younger, I thought it was a native Texas wildflower.

Fight Back Against this Invasive Plant

In the KXAN article, Dr. Waitt said that with enough seed, Indian Blanket wildflowers might be able to compete with this invasive plant, but that’s a hard fight to win.

Bastard Cabbage overruns Texas Bluebonnets along highway 360 in Austin, Texas

Dr. Waitt said it’s best to hand pull Bastard Cabbage. I did my part pulling some up on highway 360 in Austin, and I took some down with my moves from the Invasive Hunter Academy. I also took a plant sample for my herbarium.

He said that on a 10 point worry scale, he’s at a 9.5. If Dr. Waitt’s worried about our Texas Bluebonnets, we should all be worried too!

Thanks, Dr. Waitt, and the Texas Invasives website for teaching me about this terrible invasive!

Your friend,
Commander Ben

Update: Video: See Native Plant Avengers – Ecosystem’s Mightiest Heroes – battle Bastard Cabbage

Update: Bastard Cabbage Takes Over Texas Wildflowers

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Filed under 2011 Texas Invasive Plant Conference, Bastard Cabbage, Damon Waitt, Herbarium, Invasive Hunter Academy, Jim Swift, KXAN, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Texas Bluebonnets, Texas Invasives

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March 20, 2012 · 8:58 pm

Commander Ben Leads Young Invasive Hunters during National Invasive Species Awareness Week

Learn how future invasive hunters trained at Commander Ben’s Invasive Hunter Academy at Kid’s Day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. With this video, watch their journey from novice naturalists to elite defenders of native species.

This is my first of a series of articles talking about my adventures in Washington D.C. during National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Check out my preview video for the Invasive Hunter Academy before the Washington D.C. event.


Thank you Ms. Lori Williams, National Invasive Species Council (NIISC) Executive Director, and Ms. Kelsey Branch, USDA Biologist and Kid’s Day coordinator, for inviting me to be part of this fun and exciting Kid’s Day! And thank you Dr. Damon Waitt, Senior Director and Botanist with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, for all your kind words and encouragement!

Your friend,
Ben

Update: USDA Celebrates Commander Ben and His Invasive Hunter Academy

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Filed under Battles with Invasive Species, Damon Waitt, Invasive Hunter Academy, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, National Invasive Species Awareness Week, U.S. Botanic Garden

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November 14, 2011 · 1:56 am

Advances in the Fight Against Invasive Species in Texas

Dr. Damon Waitt talks about the great advances in bringing the invasive species community together in Texas, and in the cool nighttime November air, he reveals the invasive plant that bugs him the most—the Bastard Cabbage.  Dr. Waitt is the Senior Director and Botanist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

This video is part of Commander Ben’s “Invasive Species: Secrets Revealed” series of interviews from the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference.

Commander Ben signing off…

Update: See Native Plant Avengers – Ecosystem’s Mightiest Heroes – battle Bastard Cabbage

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November 10, 2011 · 6:27 pm

Commander Ben rallies scientists at the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference

I’m so excited to let you know that I gave my first formal talk about invasive species, “Origin of an invasive hunter: Educating kids of all ages about invasives”, yesterday at the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.

It was a blast!  Thank you so much to the many scientists and citizen scientists in my audience who attended and gave me a rousing round of applause at the end of my talk.  (I also showed them The boy who cried invasives, as part of my presentation.)

I also want to thank the student from Moody High School in Corpus Cristi who raised his hand during the question and answer session to let me know “that was pretty awesome man!”  You’re cool too and you and your team of students have been doing great work against the saltcedar bandits!

Thanks again to the conference organizers who invited me to speak.  That was great!  I can’t wait to talk about invasives in front of everyone again!

I was honored to have a picture with Dr. Damon Waitt (right), Senior Director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and past president of the Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Council, and Mr. Travis Gallo (left), the Invaders of Texas Citizen Science Program Coordinator.

I had a fantastic opportunity to talk with many wonderful scientists during the conference, and I had a chance to create several short video interviews.  I’ll be uploading them in the coming days, and I look forward to sharing them with you so you can enjoy some of the conference fun and discover new secrets about invasive species.

Commander Ben signing off…

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Filed under 2011 Texas Invasive Plant Conference, Corpus Cristi, Damon Waitt, Invaders of Texas Citizen Science Program, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Moody High School, Mr. Travis Gallo, Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Council

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