Road edges and woodlands in Scotland are awash with purple colour at this time of year as thousands of rhododendron ponticum bushes come into flower.
However, rhododendron's are one of the greatest threats to the sustainability of woodland and forest environments.
The threat is so severe that Forestry Commission Scotland - together with SNH and Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park, has appointed a dedicated control officer, Liz Poulsom.
Ms Poulsom will advise landowners on how to control the problem with Scottish Government grants to support rhododendron control projects through the Scottish Rural Development Programme.
She said in a statement: "Rhododendron ponticum is a non-native invasive shrub that can spread rapidly through woodlands and out into open moorland.
"It already covers around 4,400 hectares in mainland Argyll alone and is present across Scotland. It is already posing a concern for protected habitats as far east as Angus.
"The bushes shade out lower ground flora and suppress the regeneration of tree seedlings but they also host two fungal infections that can have a negative impact on the surrounding environment and on biodiversity.
"If left unchecked this species could do a lot of damage to Scotland's important native woodlands so we need to take severe and urgent action."
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