The USDA/ARS Invasive Plant Research Laboratory is a 21,000 sq. ft. facility comprised of offices, labs, and containment spaces facilitating investigations into the ecology and biological control of exotic weeds.
Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum) is an aggressive invasive weed that spreads rapidly in moist habitats in southern Florida. Click picture for more information.
Melaleuca quinquenervia is an invasive weed in Florida and the Caribbean. Pictured here was a typical Melaleuca density in 1996, prior to the biological control agents developed by the Invasive Plant Research Lab. Please click picture for more information.
Air potato, Dioscorea bulbifera, is a vine that is native to Asia and Africa. This rapidly growing invasive weed outcompetes native plants. These vines can grow more than 60 feet long, they climb into trees and smother everything in their path.
Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) is native to Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. Currently, there are over 700,000 acres in Florida infested with Brazilian pepper tree. This plant produces a dense canopy that shades out all other plants and provides a very poor habitat for native species.
Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) invades freshwater on every continent except Antarctica. Its explosive growth can result in thick mats that obstruct navigation, block drainage, provide harborages for mosquitoes, crowd out native vegetation, and degrade fisheries through oxygen reduction.
