Incoming! New plants find their ways into Florida…

Tropical American Watergrass Luziola subintegra, Swallen 1st No. American report Feathered mosquitofern Azolla pinnata, R. Br. 1st Florida report Wild sugarcane Saccharum spontaneum, L. 1st Florida report Mike Bodle SFWMD African elm Trema orientalis

Giant salvinia Salvinia molesta

Red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans …and we learn how to MELT an old one

Luziola subintegra Swallen

Male panicle, Female panicle, anthers flowers and seed Tropical American Watergrass

Lake Okeechobee, Fisheating Bay, Sept 2007 Luziola subintegra Swallen • First report in North America • Literature very sparse, no English common name • Native to tropical So. and Ctrl. Americas • Found as dry lake bottom re-hydrated in Fall 2007 • Single plants found in upland areas • Not invasive in dry conditions • Mature plant 2-3 feet height above waterline • Has immature, semi-floating stage w/o emergent leaves • Stoloniferous – perennial • Hundreds of acres w/i six months of identification • Ecology, phenology of plant? • Seed viability? • Means of spread?

Mature mat Immature form Luziola subintegra Swallen

Leaf blades papery and ridged with prominent mid-vein

Leaf sheath bases flattened, spongy

Male panicle - aerial, upright, open, Female panicle – down-turned, yellow anthers w/pollen near waterline, congested, barely emerging from base of leaf sheath Native southern watergrass “New” watergrass Luziola fluitans Luziola subintegra (syn. Hydrochloa caroliniensis)

• Submersed stems with surface- • Immature growth stage: floating leaves to 2” length surface-floating leaves • To 4-foot depths • Mature stage: erect, aerial • Complete flowers in raceme cluster leaves to 3’ height in 4’ depths • Not stoloniferous • Separate male and female flowers on branched panicles • Stoloniferous

“It ain’t so tough” - Kurt Ramsey, Applied Aquatic -2007

“But look, Kurt, it’s choking out water hyacinth” Luziola subintegra Swallen • Initial glyphosate treatment affected only emergent growth • Rapid regrowth from stolons, immature, semi-submerged form • Subsequent treatments added imazapyr, variety of adjuvants • 2009 added to Category I FLEPPC Invasive Plants List – quickest addition yet

Luziola subintegra Swallen o Initial range est., Oct. 2007 o Range est., April 2011

Lake Okeeechobee

Fisheating Bay Spring 2009 - Found in Caloosahatchee River downstream of Lake Okechobee Summer 2009 - Found in Miami-Dade County Estimated range 2020 Luziola subintegra Swallen Tropical American Watergrass

1 MAT: 2 qt imazamox + 7 ½ pint glyphosate/A

Inconsistent control led to varied surfactants Trials finally yielding consistent control

1 MAT: 2 qt imazapyr + 7 ½ pint glyphosate/A Fall flowering

Tropical American Watergrass Feathered mosquito fern Azolla pinnata R. Br.

• Found in northern PB County, July 2007 • First Florida report • 1999 report in N. Carolina – control ongoing • Asian native, disseminated for N-fixation in rice • Covering many sections of canals, private ponds • Federal Noxious Weed – might indicate risk, might not

Azolla pinnata R. Br.

Sporocarps, beneath Azolla pinnata R. Br.

Azolla caroliniana Lam. Azolla pinnata R. Br. • Diquat dibromide control effective, ongoing • Floating ferns tough to contain, minute spores, plants move w/flows USDA biocontrol evaluation – Will native A. caroliniana waterfern insects feed on and damage Azolla pinnata? Waterfern Flea Beetle Pseudolampsis guttata - Damage can be devastating - Single adult may daily eat 250 of lobes on Azolla caroliniana plant (Average A. caroliniana plant has 300 lobes) - Introduced to S. Africa to control A. filiculoides

Waterfern weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus - Known to decimate mats of Azolla caroliniana - Found in A. pinnata collected in Jupiter

Wild sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum, L.)

• Federal Noxious Weed – so what? • 2009 First Florida voucher/report • Likely “unvouchered” in other sugar States • Eurasian native to 6-foot height • Multi-decadal Lake Okeechobee presence • Not very invasive – but persistent • Used for “hybrid vigor” crosses with Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) Wild sugarcane

Slender stem

Panicle – open, feathery Leaf blade - white midrib plume upper, keeled below

Ligule – hairy, 2-4 mm tall Wild sugarcane Sugarcane

Sugarcane plume grass Saccharum giganteum

m Red Root Floater Phyllanthus fluitans • New to North America 2010 • S. American native • Peace River, DeSoto Co., 15+ sites • Popular aquarium plant • Some survival from diquat dibromide treatment • Will it misbehave badly?

Giant salvinia Salvinia molesta • 2000 First Florida report • Native to Brazil • Persists in Collier, Lee Counties • Overwhelming surface mat • Biocontrol in U.S., Asia, Australia via Brazilian insects

Salvinia minima trichomes: open, separate tips

Salvinia molesta trichomes: “Eggbeater” African elm Trema orientalis • African/Asian tree valued for rapid growth, tolerance of poor conditions (alert!) • Florida report 2001 in Miami-Dade. • New reports from Broward, PB • Celtidae like 2 native Tremas (T. lamarckiana and T. micrantha) and Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) • Leaves larger, longer than natives. • Fruit Gray bark with T. micrantha, L. numerous lenticels T. lamarckiana, R. Wild taro Colocasia esculenta • Category I FLEPPC Invasive Plants List • Agricultural relic in many FL wetlands • Endangered plant threat (Okee gourd) • Overwhelms habitats • 1,000+ acres on Lake Okeechobee • Starchy tuber eaten across world’s tropics • “Elephant ear” Wild taro management • Tuberous plant – great re-growth potential • Multi-year control in St. Johns WMD trials w/imazamox (CLEARCAST™) • 1, 2, 3 % imazamox trials yield same results on Lake Okeechobee: 100% control >one year • Haller sez “Go with 1 ½% treatment • FWC approves funds Wild taro control

• Backpack applications 1 ½% imazamox with differing surfactants – 100 acres complete control three years • Aerial application 1 ½% imazamox – 200 acres complete control two years

Wild Taro stands 2 Months After Treatment Kripa (Lumnitzera racemosa) • Strongly resembles white mangrove • Fairchild Tropical Garden escape • No distinct leaf petiole • Eradication may soon be achieved White mangrove Mile-a-Minute (Mikania micrantha)

• 11 Miami-Dade Co. sites • Very threatening rapid growth • Minute windborne seeds •10,000 seeds/plant/yr • 1 of world’s 100 most invasive plants • Eradication effort underway • Upland disturbed sites, unlike M. scandens

THANKS!!!

Aquatic Plant Management, Inc

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