As many suburban cities in the United States, the city of Gainesville, Florida, has a constant proliferation of invasive plant species that affect the native plant population. From primary forests to backyards, invasive species seem to be taking over the landscape.
General populations and those who own small land areas often lack the knowledge to identify species that affect the native environment. Responding to this concern, I developed a comprehensive guide for land owners in Central Florida with details of the most common invasive plant species. I cataloged these species so that any person without knowledge about invasive plant biology can understand its influence in the native ecosystem, and therefore, be able to find them and detect them in their own land (gardens and small farms).
Drawings: Gaby Hernández / Images: UF-IFAS, invasive.org, fleppc.org, plants.usda.gov, UF-SNRE (Gerardo Celis), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, National Tropical Botanical Garden.
