One beautiful flowering plant seems to really like Iceland. It is a lupine species Lupinus nootkatensis, more commonly known as Alaskan lupine or Nootka lupine. Its beautiful dark blue flowers fit well with Icelandic wet and cool weather which casts cold hue to the landscape there.
However, it is obvious that it is an invasive species there. Why obvious? Because it is widespread where most people live in SW and southern parts of Iceland but almost absent in eastern and northern parts of the country. And it is especially common by the roads which is another clear indication that we are dealing with an invader here.
I read a bit about this plant because its story started to interest me. It turns out that it was introduced to Iceland in 1945 to combat soil erosion and to add nitrogen to the soil. It is so successful because sheep do not want to eat it because it contains bitter tasting alkaloids. So it spreads each year even more and threatens native species in Iceland because lupine is much taller than most native plant species and creates a canopy over them which blocks sunlight.
As I can understand it is a controversial issue for many Icelanders. Introduction of aggressive invasive species are nowadays almost universally considered to be a tragic mistake. However, in this case the story is more complicated because Icelandic landscape seems to benefit from its presence. This, of course, is just a matter of taste.
Nootka or Alaskan lupines growing in Iceland.
Field of Nootka lupines. They are really abundant and often occupy large fields.
Nootka lupines in the foreground.