I have always thought of going over there to help get rid of gingers, tree ferns, and other invasive plants(sending them back over here to Cali). Sending them back here through the mail probally would be too expensive though.
Maybe there could be a business in getting them out of nature preserves, and selling them to the mainland US.

Isn't sensitive mimosa plant also invasive in Florida? They listed it in the Florida audubon book and I dont' think it's native here.

I know what you mean,I saw those sensitive plants everywhere on the Big Islan and they even look weedy. I'm sorry,though, the hedydhiums and tulip trees are still beautiful! Speaking of hedychiums,I was looking into getting some Kahili gingers for my garden this year(I live in Chicago,so it would only be a summer plant and no way would it spread anywhere)and all I can find on the web is how invasively weedy they are! How dissapointing!
You know,I never saw any ylang ylang trees when I was there.I didn't know tree ferns were invasive.

Yeah, I still think Miconia is a beautiful plant, but they launched an all-out irradication effort a few years ago and got rid of all of them. I don't hear too many people complaining about the Hedychiums in the forest, we still get people wanting to buy them, but we tell them to just go up to the mountains and take a shovel!

A lot of the things on the list are just things someone had heard were invasive elsewhere, so let's get rid of them just in case. There's some Autograph trees that got out of hand in one spot along the Pali highway, so some legislator who drives by there every day got all alarmed and the next thing you know nurseries were being ordered to destroy all their Autograph trees...

The latest target of irradication is not a plant, it's the coqui frog, much beloved in Puerto Rico, where it has enough natural predators to keep the population in check. No predators here, though, and in some parts of the Big Island they're so dense the noise at night is supposedly on a par with a jet airplane taking off!

National Geographic just did an article on this, the coqui frog was featured. When I lived in Hawaii I actually joined a group and dug up the ginger, in some places on Oahu that was all you could see. The fushia is more a problem at some of the higher elevations, especially on Maui and one of the other islands.
Amazing that not just plants but animals, microbes, plankton, jellyfish, etc. can all adapt so well to new locations.

Lisa we have a coqui frog that is in Florida as well...neat how they lay eggs that hatch into miniature frogs.

I heard lantana camara is like a plague in Hawaii...any stories on that?

You also have snakes and alligators, Kameha, or whatever it is that eats these things, probably. They haven't found our place yet, but I figure it's only a matter of time. There's not too many chemicals that will kill them either. First they were using industrial-strength caffeine, about 100 times stronger than your average cup of Starbuck's, so strong that if you get any on your skin it can trigger an instant heart attack, which I guess is what happens to the frogs. That being pretty scary, they then found that heavy-duty citric acid also works, and now I think they're trying to get hydrated lime approved for this use. None of these things is something I want to dump all over my bromeliads, so I've got all fingers and toes crossed.

As for Lantana, yeah it's a weed alright, I've seen it growing lots of places it shouldn't be, and it's spiny too, whereas most of the horticultural varieties have apparently had the spininess bred out of them. I don't know that I'd call it a real plague-- I've seen a lot worse things, like Ivy Gourd. Somebody introduced this vine from S.E.Asia because the young shoots are used in soup, but it rapidly became the Hawaiian equivalent of Kudzu, engulfing everything in sight, including all the other weeds! Driving through Waimanalo, where I live, was like some weird free-form topiary land. The state then introduced a species of (I think) moth that lays its eggs inside the stems. The only problem with that was that this particular grub is really tasty to rats, who will chew through the stem and eat it, which doesn't kill the plant but makes for some fat and happy rats, like we need more of those! It must be working somewhat, though, you don't see nearly as much Ivy Gourd as you used to.

I think this list has some selective blind spots, too. Kukui nut trees will pop up along any stream, but since it's a native plant AND the official state tree you're not going to find it on there. And no palms either. Alexander palms are almost as invasive as Miconia, in fact there's so many of them growing on the Big Island they call them Hilo palms. And we've got Chamaedoreas and Ptychospermas popping up all over the place, but no. However they seem to have included just about every melastome they could think of. Just because Miconia and Clidemia are invasive doesn't mean Medinilla is, but there it is on the list. And I have no idea how Pyracantha and Cotoneaster got on there, you don't even see those in people's yards! Same with Privet, nobody grows that here. Somebody's hallucinating.

Okay, I'm done ranting and raving, at least for today...

(beachplant, where did you live?)

It goes to the other extreme with "endangered" plants as well. I think some Hawaiians just pride themselves on how many plants they can have listed on some "endangered" list. Let's face it, most plants are relatively easy to propagate in one way or another.

Take all of the hibiscus plants for example, it's not like these aren't extremely easy to propagate via cuttings. Do it by cuttings from the plants in the actual locale and you eliminate the argument "oh we can't pollute the gene pool with foreign (but same) plants".

By some Hawaiian articles I've read, I've got more H. brackenridgei and H. arnottianus growing in my backyard than all of certain Hawaiian Islands. Gee, I started all of mine from a single plant....... it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Oh thanks for sharing that info Lisa. That's so neat you live in Hawaii...never been farther west than Marietta, Ohio in my whole life. I read about lantana in hawaii and saw pictures in a few books and it looked bad.

I have always been interested in Hawaii's state tree..the kukui nut. Is it edible, deciduous or evergreen, and how tall?

The kukui nut tree is a medium size tree, usually around 20 feet, but I have seen larger ones, especially in the mountainous areas of the islands. They are evergreen. The old Hawaiians used the nut for lamp oil, hence its english name the CANDLE NUT tree. The nuts can be eaten, but it will cause you to run to the bathroom (laxative) Its a beautiful tree, but a lot of people dont like the rubbish it makes.(Tons of nuts on the ground)

kekoa, I would love to have some of your 'weeds' for postage! I am addicted mostly to vines, but love all tropical blooming plants. If you have the time, I have the priority stamps, so email me. Thanks for your consideration.

Thanks Kekoa for the info! That's very interesting!

E komo mai, Kekoa. We need more local people on this forum!

Staghorn ferns are considered invasive exotics in Hawai'i. Lately, I've been seeing sporelings appear here in South Florida.

Haven't seen too many staghorns in the wild, but when I was on Maui (Hana) I saw lots of big Birdnest Ferns (Asplenium nidus) growing up in the trees in the forest. Very beautiful.

Side note: my husband told me the main predator for coqui frogs in Puerto Rico is a giant spider. Now there's a battle I'm not sure I'd want to witness...

Lisa ug I wouldn't want to see that battle either...spiders give me the creeps.

I spent an hour last night cutting back my mimosa pudica. It is taking over the flower bed. I've tried to get it to root in another area, with no luck, so I put some more in the ground last night. The one I have has no thorns. I've read that it does has thorns on other forums, so I wonder if there are different variations of it.

Before I die, I'm getting to Hawaii. My son said to me that if he gets this job he's after, he'll send my DH and I anywhere in the world we want to go. I said Hawaii. I have no desire to leave this country with all that's going on in the world, especially when we have such beauty to see.

I loved my honeymoon trip to Hawaii. I think I belong there. One day I promise to retire in Maui. Guavas are actually weeds over there. Here they are 3.99/lb when on sale!

It is strange how a plant can get out of hand when it's not where god intended it to be. Funny how people struggle to keep treeferns alive and happy in their gardens, but in Hawaii they are invasive! Now these could be an exportable resource to the mainland. Both Cyathea cooperi (an Australian native) and the large fern Angiopteris evecta are problematic invasives. Both are also very desirable plants on the world market. I have heard that C. cooperi in particular is potentially replacing the native Cibotium species in some areas. Here's a link to the alien species of fern in Hawaii. PF

Here is a link that might be useful: Alien Ferns in Hawaii

Jun guavas are weeds in Central and Southern Florida too! I really don't mind that though, even though I should. More food for lost children and homeless people is how I feel about invasive edibles.

Other edible weeds of Florida

Mango S
Papaya C,S
Cattley Guava C,S
Passionfruit S
Dragonfruit C,S
Rose Apple S
Sour Orange C,S, N?
Key Lime S

MMMMmm good! I love Key Limes and their by-products.

Ray

You call those weeds?? AAHHHH! How lucky you are in florida and hawaii. You don't know our suffering!

My staghorn fern is about 6 feet in diameter here in south florida. I havn't seen it give rise to a single offspring tho. I don't think it is an invasive plant.