Unsuspecting shoppers buy pest flower

The new owners of a popular seed brand say they are taking swift action after finding out its previous owners had been marketing an invasive plant as being native to New Zealand.

While under Australian ownership, gardening brand McGregor’s had been labelling seed packets of Russell lupin as native seeds and was selling them as part of its ‘‘New Zealand Native Seeds’’ collection.

Russell lupin originally come from western North America and are not native to New Zealand. In the wild the popular cottage garden flower can rapidly invade shingly braided river systems and is regarded as a pest in many parts of the country.

McGregor’s was owned by Australian-owned AHM Outdoor Holdings, before being bought by New Zealand-owned pest and garden products business Kiwicare in July 2019.

Kiwicare marketing manager Brandon Evans said he did not know how long the seeds had been marketed as native, but the company was taking rapid action to remove the misinformation from its product line.

Kiwicare had undertaken brand and category reviews of hundreds of McGregor’s seed products since taking over and would continue to do so each year, he said.

‘‘It could be in the future, where we look at these product lines and be saying, actually we don’t want them there at all.’’

Dense infestations of Russell lupin can interfere with water flow along rivers by trapping silt, sand and gravel, altering the river’s shape, contributing to flooding and erosion and changing the ecosystem for the birds that live there.

They also increase nitrogen levels in soil, making it less habitable for native low-fertility species, allowing other weed species to invade.

Russell lupin grows quickly, produces many well-dispersed, long-living seeds and is wind, flood, drought and fire tolerant.

When established, the dense one-metre-high perennial herb can provide hiding places for predators of birds that would nest on usually barren river islands.

Some councils have pest control plans in place to try to eradicate Russell lupin from the wild.

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokeswoman said it did not have any involvement with Russell lupin because it was not classified as an ‘‘unwanted organism’’.

Incorrect labelling was an issue for the Commerce Commission, she said.

The popular cottage garden flower can rapidly invade shingly braided river systems.