Question: Where does flower floss grow?

Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 18 Mar 2014:

Ah the floss flower is a beautiful flower! These plants are originally from Mexico and Central America. It is a pretty clever plant as it is able to produce a chemical that actually makes any insects that try to eat it sterile. Once sterile the insect cannot produce offspring that would feed on the plant, so the plant is protected 🙂

A problem with the floss flower, because it is so well adapted to a number of environments and so good at protecting itself, is that it has become a weed in many countries. It’s seeds have accidentally been moved to countries where it doesn’t naturally occur for example USA, Australia, Europe and Japan. These countries consider it to be a weed because it spreads very quickly, takes over large areas of soil, and causes local species to become extinct. Also it can kill animals that accidentally eat it like sheep and cows because it contains toxins that damage their livers!