Free Republic

It was just about week ago that we highlighted a mysterious trend that was sweeping the U.S.: citizens were receiving unsolicited packages of seeds, with return addresses from China, for apparently no reason at all. Now, the U.S. has started to identify "14 types of plants" that the seeds belonged to, revealing a “mix of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb and weed species,” according to the NY Times. Cabbage, hibiscus, lavender, mint, morning glory, mustard, rose, rosemary and sage have all been identified. Osama El-Lissy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said: “This...

The first time Renee Ball received mystery seeds in the mail from China, it puzzled her. Then, a few weeks later, it happened again. She had ordered some seeds online at her Churchill Falls home, but these didn’t appear to be what she ordered, so she put off planting them. “I thought I’d wait, not plant them, since there wasn’t any clear address of where they’d come from other than China. I held on to them and never gave it a second thought until I got the second ones and thought that was weird. It wasn’t what I’d ordered, and...

All 50 U.S. states have issued warnings about unsolicited packages containing unknown seeds sent to random U.S. households from China. According to various photos shared by the state departments, people across the country have received packages that appear to have been processed by China Post, which operates the official postal service of China. Labels on the packages indicate there is jewelry inside, only to reveal clear packets of seeds. Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday that the labels appear to be forged and that China Post has asked the U.S....