‘Hairy Panic’ (a Plant) Strikes Australian Town of Wangaratta
By AUSTIN RAMZY

A plant known as hairy panic has left parts of a small town in southeastern Australia overwhelmed with tumbleweeds, and global news media attention, with residents and journalists recording bizarre scenes of dry, yellow grass piling up around cars and doorways.

The windblown grass has become a major nuisance in Wangaratta, in Victoria State, where some people have had to dig their way in and out of their homes, according to Australian news reports. In some cases, they removed the tumbleweeds with leaf blowers.

“It makes it difficult to get the car out in the morning — if you can find it,” one Wangaratta resident, Jason Perna, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Images of hairy panic blanketing parts of Wangaratta were picked up by international news outlets, including the BBC and CNN, bringing an unusual amount of attention to the town with a population of 17,000.

Hairy panic, formally known as Panicum effusum, is a widespread native grass in Australia that thrives in warm, dry conditions. The name Panicum does not refer to fear or anxiety, but rather to a Latin name for millet.

The grass is more of an annoyance than a threat, with a chief risk to sheep and pigs, which can develop photosensitivity from overeating it (a condition known as “yellow big head”).

Residents told the local news media that the source was most likely an untended field. They said they were trying to contact the farmer to have it mowed.

“It’s a first-world problem,” Mr. Perna told the ABC. “We don’t put it on the scale of any of the famine or poverty going on in the world.”

這不是科幻片！澳洲神秘植物吞沒汽車、房屋

澳洲居民們正與一個即將吞沒他們的奇怪植物作戰！這不是科幻片，而是真實事件，這種奇怪的植物在澳洲當地引起了恐慌，因為它已經長滿了庭院、車庫，淹沒了汽車，甚至堆積屋頂上，來勢洶洶。

住在澳洲維多利亞省（Victoria）旺加拉塔（Wangaratta）的居民，為了生活品質，不得不花費整天的時間和力氣試圖除掉這植物，否則這植物可能會落地生根、易客為主，房子將不再能住人。

一位居民傑森（Jason Perna）向媒體表示：「這很令人沮喪，尤其你知道你得花上好幾個小時、花費心力才清得完這植物。」另一名居民帕姆（Pam Twitchett）則感嘆：「清理這植物不只讓你身體勞累，你的精神更累。」

原來這種植物叫「毛慌草」（hairy panic），又名俄羅斯薊，學名是毛葉黍（Panicum effusum），是澳洲當地一種多年生的草本植物。「毛慌草」的生長速度很快，死亡的毛慌草還可以捲成一堆，靠風將藏於內部的種子傳播出去，增加繁殖的機會與範圍，如果綿羊不小心吃下大量毛慌草還會喪命。

當地居民也說，這植物已經肆虐了一兩年，但今年夏天天氣特別乾燥，導致毛慌草肆虐的情形更嚴重了。居民也懷疑，這麼大量的毛慌草可能來自附近已經荒廢的農場。

此外，面對居民擔心毛慌草會引起火災，消防局表示毛慌草起火的風險相對低，留著讓居民自行處理即可。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/world/australia/australia-tumbleweed-hairy-panic.html

Video：A fast-growing tumbleweed known as “hairy panic” took over a street in the Victorian rural town of Wangaratta on Wednesday, clogging homes and frustrating residents.
http://nyti.ms/1otW4IR

2016-02-19 12:30 聯合新聞網