DESIGNING FOR NOVEL ECOLOGIES
Much has been written about dogs and cats seeking out human company and the forging of a relationship beneficial to both. But what if there was a plant that was capable of the same thing? A plant that domesticates itself to take advantage of humans, currently the most prolific landscape modifiers in existence, might at the same time offer us a multitude of benefits through its presence.
The self-domesticating plant in question is a tree that residents of urban environments on Australia’s eastern coast would see every day, even if it escapes their notice. Every spring this plant’s heady scent fills (sweet pittosporum), an Australian native rainforest plant, that has been commonly declared a weed. But is it really deserving of this label? Or do we need to re-examine our system of weed classification in the Anthropocene?
