Have you seen the attached plant and is it a problem for you? Email Tom at Thomas.Sheahan@freshfromflorida.com and cc me if you have:
Cheryl,
Us Forest Techs have come across a sudden increase in the abundance of a species that we've seen in previous years, but didn't know the name of, in as much as it didn't seem to be of any particular significance. It showed up a year or two ago in a cabbage palm hammock near Lake Arbuckle, and has filled in areas where we treated Cogan grass two years ago, and has spread this year to rival Ceasar's Weed in the area, and you know how dense stands of CW can be.
Using the USF Atlas of Vascular Plants site, the closest resemblance is to Sida planicaulis, (no common name), a non-native (Brazilian) species with a distribution limited to 5 Mid-Florida counties, including Polk and Highlands. Note the attached photo. The flowers are inconspicuous in the morning, but open from 2 to 4 mm to show a yellow Malvaceae-type flower that seems a natural fit in the Sida genus. We've avoided spraying it since its not on the FLEPPC list. But if it contines to fill in the landscape, it may be time to review it's status.
Could you check around the rest of the CISMA to see if anyone else recognizes this plant, or has noticed it becomming a problem?
Tom Sheahan
Air potato beetle biocontrol update, thanks to Shannon McGee, Polk County Natural Resources Agent:
Most of you are probably aware of the bio control releases in SW Fl for Air Potato in recent weeks. One of the outreach committee’s tasks is to update y’all on upcoming controls though, so here we go!
FDACS is currently providing the beetles for free, on an application basis. There is an electronic form that any site wanting to release beetles can use to apply for consideration. The project started about a year ago and they have been working with some CISMA’s. I had a phone call with Eric Rohrig, FDACS DPI, about the air potato beetle releases. Very interesting stuff, the beetles were in quarantine for 7 years in Ft. Lauderdale, releases started in 2012 (small numbers, 4 test sites) and have had about 30,000 released since then in ~15 counties in C. and S. Florida.
Attached is the EDIS doc on the new bio control and a copy of the form!
| Cheryl Millett (863) 604-3352 (Cell) Download our Nature Conservancy magazine App FREE for exclusive digital content. | | The Nature Conservancy | |
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