A weed wrench can be used to remove plants and roots, ideally before the seed has been produced. As a perennial, French broom will also grow back from the root crown, unless the taproot is removed. With light sabers, infinity stones and time travel not yet possible in the Land Trust’s fight against French broom, the work ends up being as basic as it gets. In fact, fire often stimulates French broom seed germination. A large number of dormant French broom seeds in the soil seed bank can lead to very high germination rates following any type of soil or vegetation disturbance, such as a wildfire. “It takes advantage of the cleared habitat.”Ī medium-sized shrub of French Broom can produce over 8,000 seeds a year. “The term I would use for French broom – and this is just me and not a formally recognized term – is post-fire opportunist,” said local botanist Jake Ruygt. With the recent wildfires in Napa County, you might think that at least some of the French broom had been eliminated, allowing native plants a better chance going forward.īut like the plot from the obvious sci-fi movie, French broom uses this to its advantage, growing back even more aggressively thanks to a newly stimulated seed bank that can lie dormant for up to 30 years. Because of this, it can increase both the frequency and severity of fires in invaded areas. French broom, which often grows in dense patches, burns readily and provides ladders fuels that can carry fire to the forest canopy layer. At the time it was introduced, little did anyone know that it would soon escape the gardens and aggressively crowd out native plants, while also increasing fire hazards. striatus), and Spanish broom (Spartium junceum).įrench Broom’s green stems and small yellow flowers look innocent enough. It is the most widespread of four nonnative invasive broom species that occur in North America, including Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), Portuguese broom (C. However, when you compare that plotline to the lifecycle of French broom, this plant’s life imitates art, supplying the Land Trust of Napa County with an ongoing stewardship battle on their protected lands.įrench broom is a non-native plant species that was introduced from Europe in the mid-1800’s for local gardens and then spread across Napa County. Science fiction movies with aliens that invade and reproduce rapidly, even after a fire seems to wipe them out, might seem to the everyday fan of the genre as too obvious a story line.
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