Description

Butterfly on pompom weed

Therina Groenewald: Butterfly on pompom weed – professional photographer.

Butterfly on Pompom weed was introduced to South Africa in horse feed (hay) during the Anglo Boer War (1899) that was imported from Brazil and Argentina.

The plant is a serious threat to the conservation of grasslands in South Africa. This invader causes serious degradation of the veld, lowering the biodiversity and reducing the grazing capacity by being unpalatable to large herbivores. Infestations become conspicuous when the plants are in flower between December and March, transforming the veld from green to pink.