Periscope
Mikania on campus hillsides left uncleared
by Cendyman Liu
Mikania can be seen everywhere on the hillsides of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, but gardeners say the weed poses little threat to the trees on campus.
A gardener, who declined to give his name, said he found Mikania crawling along a tree trunk in the Chinese medicine garden at the New Asia College, but the weed was dead a few days later, leaving the tree intact.
The gardener said he and his colleagues seldom cleared the weed because its spread was not serious and that "the superior has not given us any orders".
Billy Wong Bing-hung, landscaping manager of the university's estate management office, said Mikania
on campus was usually found in outlying areas with more natural vegetation and they would not clear the
weed there because of limited resources.
But Mr Wong said his section had removed Mikania manually in places close to the buildings, citing
the most recent clearance at the hillsides next to the Chung Chi College staff clubhouse.
Although his unit does not get any guidelines from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the manager said, it is general knowledge that clearing the weed with bare hands is the quickest and safest.
Chau Kwai-cheong, associate professor of the geography and resource management department, said the healthy ecosystem in the campus with dense trees and canopies blocked the sunlight and space needed for Mikania to grow.
But Mikania found on campus still has to be cleared because its seeds may be dispersed by wind to other places, Dr Chau said. Cendyman Liu
Mikania (right bottom of the
tree) dies but the tree remains
healthy.
