Why Rhodo is a no-no for Killarney

SOON, the deep red and purple hues of rhododendron will light up the summer landscape but the beauty of the plant conceals the fact that it has become a pest in many areas and literally stifles the life out of other growing things.

Picture postcard photographs of Killarney National Park, for example, feature the rhodo in glorious bloom. According to the park authorities, however, it presents what is probably the biggest conservation challenge facing the park.

It is ‘rampant and invasive’ and upwards of 650 hectares of National Park land are completely infested. Light cannot penetrate the dense thickets of rhododendron, with the result that very few plants can survive beneath it.