UF/IFAS
Okeechobee County Extension Service
458 Highway 98 North
Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578
Phone: (863) 763-6469
E- mail: dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu
Feature
Article - for release the week of 
Dan
Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent
Fun with Ferns – NOT!
Happy National Invasive Weed Awareness
Week! The
Invasive Weeds Awareness Coalition has declared February 26 -
Besides public workshops, exhibits and meetings with
national leaders who can deal with this problem, visitors to the scheduled
events in
This year on Valentine’s Day, US
Congressman E.Clay Shaw helped release a new moth in
|
A female moth, Cataclysta camptozonale, was released as a biocontrol for Old World climbing fern. Photo: Christine A. Bennett, USDA |
Old World climbing fern growing on a cypress tree. Photo: Peggy Greb, USDA |
Old World Climbing fern has two kinds of leaflets: vegetative (top) and reproductive (bottom) with spores. Photo: Vic Ramey, UF/IFAS |
Here in our Extension office we are getting more local reports about this
plant. Lygodiom
microphyllum, as
it is called by scientists, now covers
over 100,000 acres in
Old World Climbing Fern is bright lime green in color,
and the “leaves” have small patches of dark brown bumps along the edges,
places where microscopic spores are produced. These
dusty particles easily blow from one spot to another, falling into canals,
bumping into trees and spreading the problem.
Officials with the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have been waging war with this wicked weed. FL DEP officials estimated they spent $3.8 million to manage (not control) Lygodium. Since 1988, they have used herbicide sprays on 5000 acres of infested public land. Last August they unleashed a Lygodium Strike Force to help public land managers keep the fern at bay by offering to pay for the spraying of infestations of 10 acres or less.
At this time of year, Old World Climbing Fern has already
climbed up into tree canopies. Chances are that cold weather has killed the
foliage, leaving a “fire wick” that can take spring wildfires from the
ground up into the tops of trees. With
Property owners visiting our Extension office can receive
herbicide recommendations from UF scientists, but the materials labeled for
this use are non-selective weed-killers. That
means they will kill any plant they touch, making it difficult to preserve the
desirable native vegetation that is being protected from this invasive weed.
Fire can spread into tree tops from burning masses
of Old World Climbing fern. Photo: Lygodium
Management Plan |
Caterpillars of Cataclysta camptozonale moth feed on leaves of climbing fern, weakening the plant. Photo: Jason D. Stanley.
|
Scanning electron microscopy image of a tiny mite, Floracarus, another possible biological control agent for Old World climbing fern. Photo by Sebahat Ozman
|
That’s why the release of this hungry moth is of interest to local
landowners. As more of these
pretty little moths are raised in laboratories by UF and USDA scientists, they
will be released. Slowly they will spread over
But that’s not the only trick up our sleeves: scientists are also investigating a sap-sucking mite that is specific to this fern. If controlled trials prove that it will only consume this fern, a second fern-feeding mite might also be released.
As you look around your Florida Yard during National
Invasive Week Awareness Week, be on the lookout for Old World Climbing Fern.
This plant and many other invasive weeds create problems and cost us
lots of money to manage. Our
office has fact sheets and management recommendations to help you win this
battle.
I’ve
placed more information on our Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.
If you need additional information on 
-30-
Trade
names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific
information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products
named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida
Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to
provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals
and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age,
handicap, or national origin. Florida
Cooperative
Extension Service / IFAS /
University
of
Florida.
Larry
A. Arrington, Dean Last update: 06/28/2005
. This page is maintained
by Dan Culbert
references
Ferriter,
Amy - Editor. FLEEPC Lygodium Management Plan for
Florida Exotic Plant
Goolsby, J. A. Biological
Control of Weeds of Australian and Southeast Asian Origin
USDA ARS Office of International Research
Programs.
Hutchinson, J. T. Treatment of Old World Climbing Fern, April, 2003. http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/landmanage/ExoticsGrant03/ExoticsMain/treatment_old_world climbing_fer.htm
Langeland, Kenneth A. Natural Area Weeds: Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum). Gainesville: UF/IFAS Extension Service, SS-AGR-21, March 2004. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AG122.
McAvoy, Gene. “Innocent
Looking Fern Is A Real Threat”. LaBelle:
Hendry County Extension Service, undated. http://hendry.ifas.ufl.edu/HCHortNews_FernThreat.htm
Olson, Wyatt Die, Weed, Die!
Miami New Times 6/23/05 http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/current/news/feature.html
Selph, Jim. Article
of the Month: Old World Climbing Fern,
August 2003 http://sfbfp.ifas.ufl.edu/A8-03.html