Mysterious seeds are being sent to Americans, possibly from China

JustBonee

JustBonee

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Location
Texas
A warning in the news today ....

People in multiple states have gotten unsolicited packages of seeds in the mail in recent days, prompting various agriculture departments to advise recipients not to plant them.
The seeds appear to be from China, according to several of the agriculture departments. It’s unclear what type of seeds are inside the packages.
Kansas, Louisiana, Virginia and Washington are among the states that have issued warnings regarding the unexpected deliveries.

“If you receive a package of this type, please DO NOT plant these seeds,” reads an announcement from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. “If they are in sealed packaging, don’t open the sealed package.”

https://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-seeds-being-sent-americans-180900935.html
 

Also ...UK beware .... whatever this is all about, it's bad news

Packets of seeds from China mislabeled as jewelry are mailed to Americans in six different states
  • Residents in at least six U.S. states have received unsolicited and unidentified seed packages from China
  • Agriculture officials issued warnings in Washington, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Louisiana and Arizona
  • Some of the packages are mislabeled as jewelry and have Chinese writing
  • Officials warned the seeds 'could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants, or be harmful to livestock'
  • One person suggested the numerous incidents could be part of a 'brushing' e-commerce scam

  • Mysterious seed packages from China have also been sent to hundreds of gardeners in the United Kingdom
 

The story has a familiar ring to it. :unsure:

fazeol.danc_-1.png
 
I know someone who got such a package and threw it in the garbage. It would probably be better to report it to your state agriculture department and then burn them.
It's being reported that one man planted them in a pot and something that looks like cucumber has come up. Yikes!
One report mentioned something like this happening before and poisonous flowers coming up from the seeds.
All this sounds like an internet urban tale, but the woman I know who got some in the mail is an honest person who doesn't have any reason to make things up, so I believe her.
 
It does sound like an urban myth, or the beginning of a horror movie. If it's true, it leaves me puzzled. What kind of evil seeds could "China" be sending us? Everything we get comes from China, anyway!
 
How do they get names and addresses? Is this what happens when 'cookies' are installed on our computers? There has been a serious data leak somewhere.
 
Sunny said:
It does sound like an urban myth, or the beginning of a horror movie. If it's true, it leaves me puzzled. What kind of evil seeds could "China" be sending us? Everything we get comes from China, anyway!
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Not a myth. It's happening in multiple states and the UK. And though China produces much of our goods, plants and seeds are regulated for safety. These could be invasive or carry disease that threaten food crops.

U.S. warns against planting unsolicited seeds from China

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday warned residents against planting unsolicited packages of seeds arriving from China because they could harm the environment.​
​
At least eight states, from Washington to Ohio, have also told residents in recent days not to put the seeds in the ground, after they arrived apparently from China in the mailboxes of people who did not order them. Officials said the seeds could be invasive species that could threaten crops or livestock.​
​
“At this point in time we don’t have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bioterrorism,”​
 
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Fyrefox said:
There's gotta be a great Syfy-Horror story here...in fact, there already is! Watch the off-beat musical, "Little Shop of Horrors," and discover vegetables that eat you! :eek:

View attachment 115461
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Fyrefox...I actually watched both the original Little Shop of Horrors and the one this picture is from. I liked the original better but I thought it was cool that Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops was the voice of the plant.
 
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Interesting!

I can understand why China might be able to profit from stealing all that information from Equifax, but how could they possibly benefit from sending us some mysterious seeds in the mail? I don't get it.
 
I'm so curious I just couldn't let the seeds go unplanted. I would have to find out what comes up.

Maybe they are marijuana. Who knows. I just hate it when I don't know what something is and get a warning not to plant them. They could be peace lillys.

Invasive plants? They are supposed to be checked at import by customs.

For the mail addresse? Any phone book has plenty of names and addresses.

O.K. now has anyone looked at the stamp? Are you sure they are from China?

"Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such phone."

Anyone remember those lyrics?
 
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Or it could just be a database entry issue where an item was given the wrong identifier and the wrong thing was sent to people. I'm surprised that no one asked the people if they've ordered anything online recently? A lot of people use Wish and I could easily see a mistake there end up with the wrong item being sent to the person who ordered something. My wife was using Wish a lot and got the wrong items several times. Also she's gotten things she ordered many months ago and had forgotten about the order. So these people might have ordered something several months ago.

I'm also surprised that one of the officials hasn't requested some of the seeds and run a genetic test on them to determine what they are.
 
Bonnie said:
They have.
Also USPS has stopped packages from entering from China ... https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm
It states because of Covid, but that takes care of those mystery seed pkgs. also
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Has anyone reported on the genetic testing and/or it's results?

I didn't see China on the list. Mongolia is there but that's a small portion of China and it's stopped due the the unavailability of transportation.
 

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