https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/man-plants-mystery-seeds-china-arkansas-usda-destroy
A man from Booneville, Ark., planted unsolicited mystery seeds he received from China weeks before government officials issued their warnings not to, and now that plant has been “prepped for incineration,” a spokesperson from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture told Fox News.
The plant in question grew white fruits and orange blossoms that reportedly looked similar to a squash plant after having been grown for two months. After conducting an internal analysis, agriculture experts in Arkansas have determined the Booneville plant to be a species that is native to South and Southeast Asia.
“Department staff performed an unofficial identification of the plants and determined that it was Benincasa hispida – common name: Wax Gourd, Winter Melon, Chinese Watermelon. Out of an abundance of caution the plant material was incinerated,” wrote Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Public Information Manager Anna Thrash in an email. “After further discussion with our USDA partners we will be transferring plant material collected in the future to them for official identification.”
The Booneville plant is one of the few if not only confirmed instances of the questionable foreign seeds being planted in the U.S. Though, thousands of Americans have reported receiving unsolicited seed packets largely from China and sometimes from Uzbekistan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and state officials began warning the public to not plant the seeds last month after it was established that these mailings were not isolated incidents. Several species have been successfully identified by the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
“The seeds APHIS has identified so far are not uniform or of any particular type. They include a mixture of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb, and weed seeds,” a spokesperson for the USDA told Fox News via email. “Some of the species identified include cabbage, broccoli, kale, celery, coriander, cilantro, sunflower, Ivyleaf Morning-Glory, Lavender, Basil, Rose, and Garden Tomato.”
More than 9,000 emails from private citizens throughout the country have been sent to the USDA regarding unsolicited seeds, according to USDA APHIS Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy. In the agency’s Tuesday radio broadcast, he revealed that the USDA has collected 925 seed packages so far.
The plant in question grew white fruits and orange blossoms that reportedly looked similar to a squash plant after having been grown for two months. After conducting an internal analysis, agriculture experts in Arkansas have determined the Booneville plant to be a species that is native to South and Southeast Asia.
“Department staff performed an unofficial identification of the plants and determined that it was Benincasa hispida – common name: Wax Gourd, Winter Melon, Chinese Watermelon. Out of an abundance of caution the plant material was incinerated,” wrote Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Public Information Manager Anna Thrash in an email. “After further discussion with our USDA partners we will be transferring plant material collected in the future to them for official identification.”
The Booneville plant is one of the few if not only confirmed instances of the questionable foreign seeds being planted in the U.S. Though, thousands of Americans have reported receiving unsolicited seed packets largely from China and sometimes from Uzbekistan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and state officials began warning the public to not plant the seeds last month after it was established that these mailings were not isolated incidents. Several species have been successfully identified by the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
“The seeds APHIS has identified so far are not uniform or of any particular type. They include a mixture of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb, and weed seeds,” a spokesperson for the USDA told Fox News via email. “Some of the species identified include cabbage, broccoli, kale, celery, coriander, cilantro, sunflower, Ivyleaf Morning-Glory, Lavender, Basil, Rose, and Garden Tomato.”
More than 9,000 emails from private citizens throughout the country have been sent to the USDA regarding unsolicited seeds, according to USDA APHIS Deputy Administrator Osama El-Lissy. In the agency’s Tuesday radio broadcast, he revealed that the USDA has collected 925 seed packages so far.
