Origin
Global tropics
Ecological Impact
Listed as a Category I invasive species for all regions of Florida by the Florida Invasive Species Council. Spreads aggressively into the landscape. Can produce dense crowns of drooping leaves that displaces native ground cover.
Description
Leaves (fronds) are once pinnate that are up to 3 feet long and 2.8 inches wide. Forty to one hundred leaflets (pinnae) may be found on each side of the main stalk of the frond with margins slightly or entirely toothed (serrated). Rhizomes are suberect, with spreading, brown linear scales with hairlike tips; producing small ungerground tubers (Langeland and Burks, 1998).
Identification Tips
May be confused with its native relative Nephrolepis exalta, which does not produce tubers and has more sharply pointed leaflet tips. Also, the leaflets of N. cordifolia slightly overlap, whereas those of N. exaltata are separate.
History
Spread by natural dispersal of spores and by dumping of yard waste (Langeland and Burks, 1998).
Range
Found throughout the state of Florida, mainly central and southern.
Prevention/Management Strategies
Do not plant. Clean shoes, equipment, and clothing after managing or visiting infested areas. Remove existing plantings, before spores are produced if possible. Hand pulling can be used to remove some of the vegetation, but the plants will break off, leaving plant parts in the ground from which regrowth will occur. Be sure to dispose of plants properly. Herbicides containing glyphosate can be used; a foliar application of a 1.5% solution provides good control. Follow-up applications are necessary to control plants regrowing from rhizomes and tubers1.
References
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Plant Directory. https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/. Accessed Apr. 18, 2025. Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville.