Hypericum canariense Introductions...
H. canariense has made its way to North America (and presumably other parts of the world) as a relatively rare horticultural offering. It is currently displayed at both the Los Angeles County Arboretum and the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and it continues to appear for sale on occasion.
It has escaped ornamental planting in a variety of areas...
Santa
Barbara, CA
Orange
County, CA
San Diego, CA
San
Mateo County, CA
San
Francisco, CA
Kula
(Maui), HI
Western
Australia
Victoria
(Australia)
New Zealand (no info yet)
Beyond
Eradication
Efforts/Techniques
See the Contacts page for a list of people involved in following and eradicating this species at each site.
Return to the Hypericum canariense Home Page
Santa
Barbara, CA
H. canariense was first reported in the wild in the Santa
Barbara, CA area (Munz 1968), where it appeared to be escaping
from gardens (Smith 1976). I have looked for it in the Santa
Barbara region, but I have not found it there. It is also not
known to anyone I've spoken to at the universities and botanical
gardens in the area.
Munz, P. (1968). Supplement to A
California Flora. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Smith, C. (1976). A flora of the Santa Barbara region,
California: an annotated catalogue of the native and naturalized
plants of the Santa Barbara County mainland and nearby Channel
Islands. Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Orange
County, CA
H. canariense covers about an acre on the
historic Dana Point headlands and several acres in San Juan
Capistrano. It was vouchered at both localities in the
mid-1980's, though it has been noted anecdotally as being in San
Juan Capistrano since at least the early 1970's. It appears not
to be spreading in Dana Point but is spreading widely in San Juan
Capistrano.
 A large H. canariense in Lake Murray Park. |
San
Diego, CA Within the city of San Diego, approximately three patches of H. canariense cover several ha of coastal scrub at the Pt. Loma Naval base. This invasion is likely to have begun within the last twenty years (Calflora database). I have also seen several additional patches of H. canariense in the San Diego area, residing in areas of coastal scrub habitat of Tecolote Canyon, Balboa Park, and Lake Murray Park. |
San
Mateo County, CA
In San Mateo Co., near Franklin Point on the central California
coast, H. canariense occurs in many dense patches, as
well as sporadic individuals, over about 100 ha of coastal scrub
and old fields. This invasion may have started as much as fifteen
years ago, but has increased rapidly during the last five years.
 H. canariense (yellow)in San Mateo Co. (Photo by J. Wade - Summer 2001) |
 Aerial photo of one portion of the H. canariense (orange) invasion in San Mateo. (Photo by J. Wade - Summer 2001) |
For more images of this invasion, see the website www.hear.org/species/hypericum_canariense/johnwadeimages
San
Francisco, CA
A small population of this species (unconfirmed) is currently
being eradicated from Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.
 Undergraduate technician Jodi Stewart climbing H. canariense shrubs at Kula. (Summer 2003) |
Kula, Maui (Hawai'i) H. canariense is also invading the Kula area (rangeland, 1300m) on the island of Maui, HI. It has been spreading away from an initial introduction near what is now Kula Botanical Gardens for approx. 20 years (pre-dating the gardens). The HEAR (Hawaiian Ecosystems At Risk) website has additional general and detailed information about this invasion, including maps and photos. |
Western
Australia
One coastal population has been identified here, about 300 km
south of Perth, in the Bremer Bay/Gairdner area (East of Albany).
Eradication in the near future is likely.
This population has been documented at the Western Australian
herbarium by specimens:
PERTH 05588499 (specimen from Bridgetown)
PERTH 05952999 (specimen from Bremer Bay)
 |
Victoria, Australia Recently, H. canariense has been documented in coastal Victoria. |
While these locations are few, this species has been successful at spreading into natural, undisturbed vegetation, and appears likely to increase its range substantially in the immediate future. Its native range falls within the Mediterranean climate zone, and similar habitat also occurs in Pacific North America, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. The Nature Conservancy has posted H. canariense on its Weed Alert list.
H. canariense will re-sprout if cut to the ground, and there is no primary stem suitable for a weed wrench. Thus far, eradication has been attempted via herbicide sprays. In Hawai'i, control of H.canariense has been attempted using the herbicide triclopyr ester (brand name Garlon 4). It is susceptible to foliar treatment, but seasonally may not have enough leaf surface available for uptake. It seems, at least in Hawai'i, that it is quite susceptible to basal bark treatments at any time of year (20% Garlon 4 in oil carrier).
(See the Contacts page for a list of people involved in following and eradicating this species at each site).
This page last updated: November 2007
This page is maintained by Katrina Dlugosch (University of British Columbia). If you have comments, corrections, questions or additions for this site, please contact Katrina at: katrina(dot)dlugosch(at)gmail(dot)com