Hi all,

I've twice been subjected to infestations of a small moth that seemed to
have hatched out of a supply of "niger" left too long in the cubbard.
Could that have been an African moth?

Gene Hunn.

On Mon, 7 Nov 1994 HILTONB at ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu wrote:

>
> The seed that is commercially available in this country as "thistle" is
> from an African plant, "Guizotia abyssinica". Although it is in the thistle
> family, a better name for the plant and its seeds is "niger." Historically,
> nearly all niger seed was imported from Ethiopia, originally as food for
> small cage birds but more recently as a magnet for goldfinches, siskins,
> etc. I understand that niger seed is also used to produce oil for human use
> (food?), and that there are now some commercial niger farms in this country
> , I think in Texas.
>
> Although niger seed occasionally sprouts, I seriously doubt that--as a
> tropical plant--it would survive for many generations in most parts of
> the U.S. Gleason & Cronquist (Manual of Vascular Plants of NE U.S. &
> Adjacent Canada) report that G. abyssinica is "occasionally adventive in
> waste places in our range."
>
> Unlike black sunflower, niger seed seldom spoils in wet weather and seldom
> sprouts in cool regions, so it seems unlikely that it would gain a foothold
> in most of the northwestern U.S.
>
> I just wish I'd bought stock in a niger-importing company about 20 years
> ago before the big birdfeeding boom hit! In these parts, it's still selling
> for $1.30 and up per pound.
>
>
> Happy Birding!
>
>
> BILL HILTON JR.
> "The Piedmont Naturalist"
> Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
> 1432 DeVinney Road
> York, South Carolina 29745
> (803)684-0255
> hiltonb at ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
>
>
>