Say goodbye to these 11 plants

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 1999

The Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association has asked nursery owners to stop selling these plant species. All are in category one (most invasive) of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's 1999 list of invasive pest plants. Carrotwood is also on Florida's State Noxious Weed List, which regulates the movement of invasive species; it will be illegal to sell or distribute after Jan. 1, 2001.

• Mother-in-law's tongue tree ......... Albizia lebbeck
• Orchid tree ......... Bauhinia variegata
• Bishopwood tree ........ Bischofia javanica
• Carrotwood ........ Cupaniopsis anacardioide
• Cat's claw vine ........ Macfadyena unguis-cati
• Chinaberry tree ......... Melia azedarach
• Erect sword fern ........... Nephrolepis cordifolia
• Guava ......... Psidium guajava
• Oyster plant (large variety) ........ Rhoeo spathacea
• Java plum tree; jambolan ........ Syzygium cumini
• Seaside mahoe tree ........ Thespesia populnea

Mission: Kill the creeps Florida is crawling with non-indigenous pest plants -- one step behind Hawaii. Most of us are blissfully unaware of the invasion, and how much it costs to combat it. Project: Eradicate Old world climbing fern Jim Goodwin lets the swamp buggy roll to a stop on a steamy September morning and turns off the engine. He looks around at the tea-brown water beneath and the green walls rising on all sides. Project: Biocontrol research Gary Buckingham's job is to be careful. Project: Eradicate Burma reed Burma reed is "public enemy No. 1 in Miami-Dade County," says Roger Hammer, a botanist with Natural Areas Management, a division of the county's park and recreation department.

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