This academic year’s last two volunteer workdays on June 1 and 15 were devoted to finishing off the Maltese Star Thistles (Centaurea melitensis aka Tocalote). As previously discussed, Maltese Star Thistles are one of our most problematic invasive plants at the BFS.
A Lesser Golfinch on a Maltese Star Thistle at the BFS. ©Nancy Hamlett.
We’ve continued our strategy of having large infestations in open areas cleared with string trimmers by a professional crew with volunteers hand-pulling thistles from small, isolated infestations and areas that the crew can’t access. Compared to last year, the star thistles were less dense this year, especially in areas that we treated last year, so we were able to treat more areas this year, as shown on this map:
Areas from which C. melitensis was removed.
Yellow = isolated patches removed by volunteers.
Tan = areas weed-whacked by Johnny’s Tree Service. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Here are some of the volunteers at work:
Volunteers at work on a dense infestation on the south side of the ‘new toad pond’ berm. Gloria Cangahuala, Valerie Gustaveson, and Al Cangahuala (with only his hat showing) are in the foreground. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Volunteer Carol Cox pulls star thistles from the south berm of the ‘new toad pond’. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Thendral Govindaraj (HMC ’16) pulling star thistles from the south berm of the ‘new toad pond’. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Dave Willbers (Citrus College) digs up some Italian Thistles we found alongside the star thistle on the ‘old’ toad pond mound. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Here’s the professional crew from Johnny’s Tree Service weed-whacking the grassy area west of the entry drive:
A crew from Johnny’s Tree Service knocking down star thistles at the grass-coastal sage scrub margin west of the entry drive. ©Nancy Hamlett.
A worker from Johnny’s Tree Service knocking down star thistles in the grassy area west of the entry drive. ©Nancy Hamlett.
And here are some “before” and “after” photos of some of the areas we treated:
South side of the ‘new toad pond’ berm. Left: before showing thick growth of C. melitensis. Right: C. melitensis removed. ©Nancy Hamlett.
South side of the ‘new toad pond’ berm. Left: before showing thick growth of C. melitensis. Right: C. melitensis removed. ©Nancy Hamlett.
Area in the 'Neck' with a small infestation of C. melitensis. A few of the small, sparse plants are marked with arrows. ©Nancy Hamlett.
The area in the ‘Neck’ shown above with C. melitensis removed. ©Nancy Hamlett.
We’ll be very curious to see next year how much two years of treatment have impacted the start thistles. Please join us next year and see! The 2013-2014 schedule will be posted on the volunteer page in August.