Bob wrote >Take, for example, state governments, and, in particular, the >Colorado Department of Agriculture. Euphorbia myrsinites is listed >as a noxious weed. (You can see it growing along the road in one or >two places.) Whose idea was it to list it? I doubt that anyone in >the CDoA has the inclination to drive around the state looking for >"invasive exotics" to include on their list (for the purpose of, >say, increasing their power and authority). Undoubtedly, someone saw >the euphorbia, totally freaked out, and contacted the CDoA. I had wondered about that species being listed. I grew it here in Oregon and though I had to control its seeding, some of my friends who were gardening on more poorly drained sites couldn't keep it alive. The really crazy one is that Oregon lists, among "potential invasives," Cyclamen coum. It is less enthusiastic here than C. hederifolium, but I imagine someone saw the famous colony of it at Boyd Kline's garden in southern Oregon and "totally freaked out." Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, where we have only a little sleet and ice at the margin of what just covered Bob's Denver garden in masses of snow.