Arungo -- like bamboo -- is a cautionary invasive plant tale

Members of the California Conservation Corps in Redding helped remove large arundo growths on banks around a pond and lagoon off Park Marina Drive.

About 50 sites at which arundo has been cleared around Redding will need to be sprayed over the next several years to keep the plant from coming back. Shasta County is home to several arundo project sites.

Arundo is native to the Mediterranean and is also known as giant reed. Arundo, which resembles bamboo, in the right conditions -- plenty of water and fertile soil -- can grow 4 inches a day.

Arundo was introduced to California in the 1800s by farmers and ranchers who thought it would stabilize stream banks, but he plant's roots break loose during storms and spur erosion.

Getting rid of arundo requires cutting the shoots -- which can grow to 30 feet tall -- and then spraying the root clusters with an herbicide to kill them.