SEPT-OCT 2018 – Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum, Fallopia japonica) is sometimes called Mexican Bamboo but is neither. It’s native to Eastern Asia and has many common names including Hancock’s curse, Himalayan fleece vine, monkeyweed, tiger stick and donkey rhubarb. HistoryAccording to the University of Leicester, it arrived at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in August 1850 in an unsolicited package of plants from Philippe von Siebold in Holland. Japanese knotweed was subsequently sold by nurserymen all over the Britain where it was used as an ornamental, for cattle forage and to stabilize riverbanks. Its use was promoted by William Robinson (1838-1935) the author of The Wild Garden (1870) and The…