Some of the mysterious seeds from China turned out to be the makings of a vegetable garden or flower bouquet — but officials warn they still shouldn’t be planted.
The “suspicious, unsolicited” seed packets started showing up in mailboxes across the United States in July and were apparently shipped from China, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The seeds weren’t identified and it’s not clear why they were randomly sent to people.
Officials were concerned the seeds could “introduce damaging pests or diseases that could harm U.S. agriculture” and warned those who received them not to open the packages or plant the seeds.
Now officials have identified some of the mystery seeds and — so far — they appear to be harmless.
The 14 species identified include mustard and cabbage, herbs such as mint, sage, lavender and rosemary and morning glory, roses and hibiscus flowers, Osama El-Lissy with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a media broadcast last week.
“This is just a subset of the samples we’ve collected so far,” El-Lissy said.
Agriculture officials want to collect as many seed packets as possible to determine if any of them carry pests or diseases, El-Lissy said in another broadcast.
Those who receive the mysterious seeds in the mail should save the package they came in — including the mailing label — place it all in an envelope and contact their state plant regulatory official or APHIS state plant health director, the USDA says. Do not plant them or open the packet.
Questions remain about why someone would send vegetables and herbs to U.S. residents unprompted.
The USDA has received reports about the the seeds from 22 states but doesn’t know exactly how many packages were sent. Residents of Canada, Australia and other countries have also received them.
The seeds are not thought to be linked to agro-terrorism but appear to be part of an “internet brushing scam” in which people are sent “unsolicited items” and sellers post fake reviews to help sales, the USDA says.
“Brushing scams involving seed packets in international mail shipments are not uncommon,” the USDA site says. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted similar seed shipments in recent years.”
Bailey Aldridge is a reporter covering real-time news in North and South Carolina. She has a degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
