Invasive Exotic Plants in Florida - Page 3 of 3


Florida's Nature/Home Florida Plants Native Trees & Shrubs Wild Exotic Plants Florida Vines Browse a list of plants Florida Wildflowers White Flowers Red & Orange Flowers Yellow Flowers Blue & Purple Flowers Florida Landscape Plants Trees Shrubs Florida Habitats Wetlands Uplands Florida Wildlife Venomous Snakes Birds Assorted Animals Glossary	Invasive Exotic Plants in Florida Exotic Plants, Page - 1 2 3
	Plants on this page - Cogongrass, Elephant grass, Schefflera, Climbing Cassia, Turk's Turban, Castor bean, Downy Rose Myrtle, Silky Sesban, Turkscap Mallow, African Rosemallow, Javanese Glorybower, Bishopwood Click any image to open a larger version Cogongrass, Japanese blood-grass - Imperata cylindrica Category 1 Invasive plant Family - Poaceae (Grasses) Description - Perennial. Considered one of the worst top ten weeds worldwide, this plant reproduces by rhizomes as well as seed. Cogongrass is usually 2 to 4 feet in height, a white off center mid-vein on its leaves helps to distinguish this species from other grasses. Flowers year-round in South Florida. Originally from Southeast Asia, China & Japan. Cogongrass invades most types of Florida habitats from the upland forest to wetlands, forming dense mats of thatch that crowd out native plants. Elephant grass, Napiergrass - Pennisetum purpureum Family - Poaceae Habitat - Roadsides, Moist Ruderal, Ditch banks, Wet Prairie, Swamp margins Description - Category 1 invasive plant, native to Africa. Elephant grass grows up to 16 feet high with stems to 3/4 inch diameter. Leaves are 12- 16 inches long with sharp finely serrated margins. Stems are hirsute (hairy) and yellow to purplish in color. Elephant grass spreads primarily by rhizomes, forming dense thickets & flowers in late summer & fall. Schefflera, Queensland Umbrella Tree - Schefflera actinophylla Family - Araliaceae Habitat - Coastal strand, Flatwoods, Hammocks, Scrub Description - Introduced category 1 invasive species to 40 feet tall with single or multiple greenish trunks. Leaves are palmately compound with 7-16 oblanceolate leaflets which are alternately arranged & shiny green on long petioles (leaf stems). Schefflera has red flowers in summer and fall that are on large inflorescence at the stem tips. Produces large numbers of seeds which are then spread by birds. Seedlings can sometimes be seen growing in the "boots" of our native Sabal palms. Climbing Cassia, Christmas Cassia - Senna pendula var.glabrata Family - Fabaceae Habitat - Ruderal, Coastal Strand, Hammocks Description - Category 1 invasive plant. Sprawling shrub to 13 feet tall, leaves alternate, pinnately compound with 3 -6 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets are oblong, up to 1 1/2 inches long with largest at tip. Flowers are yellow to greenish-yellow to 1 1/2 inches or slightly more across with curved stamens, produced on racemes near tips of branch in late fall to early winter. Fruit is a brown smooth pod to 5 inches or more long containing numerous seeds. Turk's Turban, Skyrocket - Clerodendrum indicum L. Family - Lamiaceae Habitat - Ruderal Description - Introduced exotic plant, native to the Malay Archipelago. Semi-woody perennial shrub or annual in colder regions. Long, hollow stems are mostly un-branched & 6-9 feet long. Leaves are 4 - 6 inches long, arranged in whorls, elliptic in shape with entire, wavy margins. Numerous white flowers on large inflorescence from late summer into the fall. Javanese Glorybower - Clerodendrum speciosissimum Family - Lamiaceae Description - Introduced, invasive - native to Indonesia, Java. Long used as landscape plant in Florida where it escapes from cultivation. Perennial shrub, 5-12 feet tall with large "fuzzy"cordate leaves up to 12 inches long. Produces clusters of red-orange flowers from spring through fall. Fruit is a 4 lobed fleshy dark blue to black berry, dispersed by birds. Spreads by suckering from its roots. Castorbean, Castor bean - Ricinus communis Family - Euphorbiaceae Habitat - Disturbed areas Description - Introduced non-native plant, Castor bean has been cultivated for thousands of years and is believed to have originated in tropical Africa. Grows as a shrub or small tree and may be an annual or perennial depending on the local climate. the Castor bean plant is capable of attaining a height of 40+ feet in a tropical climate though it's more common in the 10 - 20 foot range in much of South Florida. Large palmate leaves to nearly 24 inches wide with 6 or more lobes, margins toothed. Stems are herbaceous except on larger specimens the base of the main stem may become woody. The leaves & stems of Castor bean may be green, red or purple. Flowers are produced on an inflorescence in warm months followed by spiny capsules containing the seeds. All parts of the castor bean plant are poisonous, with the seeds being the most toxic. Downy Rose Myrtle - Rhodomyrtus tomentosa Family - Myrtaceae Habitat - Pinelands & flatwoods, margins of lakes, marshes Description - Invasive exotic perennial shrub, native to Asia. Grows from 6-12 feet tall. Introduced to Florida in the 1920s as an ornamental landscape plant. Rose myrtle produces 1-2 inch wide rose colored flowers in the spring from leaf axils. Leaves are simple, oppositely arranged, elliptic in shape with entire margins to about 3 inches long. Fruit is a purple globose berry 1/2 in. in diameter. Birds & mammals eat the fruit & disperse seeds. Forms dense thickets, crowding out native plants. Silky Sesban - Sesbania sericea Family - Fabaceae Habitat - Margins of fresh water marshes, ponds, lakes, river and creek banks, other moist sites. Description - Introduced annual or perennial shrub, subshrub, height 6 feet. Leaves alternate, pinnately compound, leaflets have pointed tips. Flower- Yellow to orange, 1-1/2 inch. Fruit is a long, thin seed pod, 6 in. or more. Turkscap Mallow, Mazapan - Malvaviscus penduliflorus Family - Malvaceae Habitat - Ruderal, Old home sites, roadsides Description - Not native, introduced from South America. Shrub to 10 feet tall, variable leaf forms alternately arranged. Leaves may be oval, cordate or lobed, hirsute or glabrous. Margins dentate or smooth, yellowish green to deep green in color. Habit of growth can become vine like, especially when grown in shade. Flower - Pendent or semi-erect red tubular flower that never opens fully, protruding stamen. African Rosemallow - Hibiscus acetosella Family - Malvaceae Habitat - Ruderal, Wet Flatwoods Description - Introduced annual or perennial shrub 2 - 5 feet tall, deep red-crimson leaves are alternate, 3 lobed deeply cut with serrate margins on long petioles. Flowers are pink to deep red, 3 - 5 inches across. Javanese Bishopwood, Toog tree - Bischofia javanica Family - Euphorbiaceae Habitat - Disturbed wetland sites, Cypress domes, Hardwood hammocks Description - FLEPPC Category I Invasive exotic tree, introduced from Asia as an ornamental landscape tree & is now invading natural areas in South Florida where it alters/displaces native plant communities. Seeds are dispersed by birds that eat the fruit. Height to 60 feet, leaves are on long petioles (stems), are compound with 3 leaflets & toothed margins, often with a bronze hue. Thrives in moist soil, flowers are in racemes at leaf axils, fruit is a small round brown/reddish brown to dark blue berry less than a 1/2'' in diameter, produced in large clusters. Sap is milky, as is typical of the Euphorbiaceae family. Exotic Plants, Page - 1 2 3
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