Intruders across isles
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Fiddlewood, Citharexylum spinosum: widely planted as an ornamental and street tree. The fruit has been spread by birds into forests. This is now common along the Pali Highway.
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Strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum: widely planted as a fruit tree and ornamental, spread by animals into wet forests, now threatening 500,000 acres of watershed forests statewide.
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Mexican feather grass, Nassella tenuissima: The noxious grass has been banned from entry in Australia, where it is destroying pasture lands and poses a health risk to grazing animals. It has been imported into Hawaii by landscapers and is not on the federal noxious weed list.
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Albizia, Falcataria moluccana: originally planted for reforestation and as an ornamental. Limbs of these trees spontaneously drop, creating a hazard along roadways and to homeowners.
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Pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana: Although C. jubata is on the noxious weed list, C. selloana is not. Decades ago, it was thought that C. selloana wasn't invasive because nurseries were selling only the female plants. It has since been confirmed that male plants are also present and this plant is spreading.
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Australian tree fern, Sphaeropteris cooperi: planted as an ornamental in residential and business districts. Spores blow with the wind, planting this water guzzler in native forests.
The Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species said many plants that are expected to have an adverse impact on Hawaii’s environment continue to be imported because of a flawed system that allows entry unless they are on a list of banned plants. The group said government officials have more difficulty preventing an alien plant from spreading once it is in the state. Pictured are several invasive plants.
