Mind your language | 12 January 2008

An advertisement for birdfood said: ‘To differentiate between the imported niger oilseed, used to feed wild birds, and thistle — as well as to eliminate any possibility of offensively mispronouncing the word “niger” — the Wild Bird Feeding Industry trademarked the name Nyjer in 1998.’ They might have done, if an industry can, but I’ve seen a packet of seed bearing the name of the British Trust for Ornithology, on sale at a garden centre, labelled ‘Nyger’ in big letters, which is neither one thing nor the other.

There is also a standard blurb that birdseed merchants copy on to their websites, both in Britain and America. The section on escaped specimens of niger has been updated, but some websites also preserve both the older version in rather comical juxtaposition, thus: ‘Occasionally a fertile seed slips in that is capable of sprouting and people may find that the yellow flowering plant growing under their Nyjer feeder is indeed Guizotia abyssinica, which will make their finches very happy! This is not necessarily good news because even though niger (Nyjer) is not a weed, it spreads like one and produces zillions of seeds.

‘REVISED To protect our environment from any invasive weed seeds (like dodder seed) that may enter the country with the imported niger oilseed, all shipments are heat sterilised to prevent germination of these weeds. Very rarely, a fertile Nyjer seed may sprout a yellow flowering plant under their feeder and this is indeed Guizotia abyssinica. This is not cause for worry as it won’t last long; this seed does not grow well in any part of the UK.’

So either niger produces ‘zillions’ of seeds and spreads like a weed, or it won’t last long and does not grow well in any part of the UK (or, for American readers, the US).