Lower Saxony
“Hitler Rose” is spreading: Invasive plant threatens dikes on the coast
A plant known as the “Hitler rose” is spreading so much that it is now being fought. It owes its unusual name to another characteristic.
Rosa rugosa is the scientific name of a plant that initially appears quite inconspicuous. However, it is increasingly populating several regions on Lower Saxony’s North Sea coast. There, above all, dikes and shelters, which are intended to protect the population from flooding in flood situations.
Her ability to assert herself against almost all other plants is now at her disadvantage, as is the case “Kreiszeitung”, which first reported on the difficulties with the plant. The Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Protection (NLWKN) wants to push back the species, also known as the “potato rose”.
Dikes and dunes serve to defend and mitigate floods in all coastal areas. The NLWKN is currently trying to push back the plant in all those areas where there is an influence on protective dunes. “Protective dunes take on the task of main dykes, especially in the west, north and east of the seven inhabited East Frisian islands, as natural structures but monitored and maintained by the NLWKN,” the authority informs star with.
“Hitler Rose” was intended to reduce visibility
In the past, Rosa rugosa, which originally comes from Asia, was even planted specifically in the region. “Planting also took place on the East Frisian Islands to attract visitors and to green bunkers or other military buildings,” says the NLWKN.
This should also vernacular name “Hitler Rose” or “Adolf Hitler Rose”. In order to make military buildings more difficult to see for other countries, heaps of potato roses were planted during the time of National Socialist rule. At the time, people wanted to take advantage of their ability to spread quickly and rigorously. Their flowers in particular can form such a dense network that it is no longer possible to see through them to the ground
Contrary to previous assumptions, the potato rose stabilizes the dikes less than expected. Native species such as marram grass are much more suitable for this. The problem also lies “more in the spread of this invasive plant. It displaces native, established species such as marram grass,” explains botanist Volker Wissmann from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen in an interview with star. “In the medium term, further expansion would lead to a monoculture of this very dominant plant and thus cause subsequent problems, as we are already experiencing with forests. The resistance to weather and climate phenomena tends to be weakened by monocultures,” says Wissmann.
However, the task that the NLWKN sets itself does not seem to be that easy. The authority is aware of this: “The difficulties in combating the potato rose lie in the size of the populations, the persistence, the growth dynamics and the difficult ‘handling’. The high regeneration and spread potential makes control measures very complex and lengthy,” said press spokesman Fabian Buß star.
However, the highly unusual name of the plant may help to generate attention for the problem of the invasive rose plant and to ensure the stability of the dikes on the North Sea in the short and medium term.
Sources: “district newspaper”, “Giessen General”