Most Wanted Invasive Species

Project Stay Planted is the only time we at the Garden are excited to see invasive plants!

Exotic invasive plants that make it on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s List of Invasive Plants can decimate native and endangered plant populations, lead to increased wildfires, and cause financial upheaval through pest plant management. To combat these issues we are asking you, the citizen scientist, to join us, and document crimes against our habitats. When you upload images of invasive species to Project Stay Planted, you help inform scientists about how many of these botanical bad guys are out there and where they are found. That information is critical to understanding how these invasive plants affect Florida’s biodiversity and native plant communities.

The following Category 1 plants have made our most-wanted list, so we’d like you to track them down and yell “freeze — smile for the camera!”

About the Authors

Mary Helen Reuter is Curator of Education & Visitor Experience at Naples Botanical Garden. She was raised in the Rose Capital of America where her love for gardens originally blossomed. She is a board member of the Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge and she enjoys spending her time adventuring in the swamps of Southwest Florida.

Emily Kless is an Educator II for Naples Botanical Garden. Emily is always excited by the opportunity to learn. Outside of the Garden, you can find Emily and her service dog, Clementine, hiking the region’s various trails (and sometimes forging their own) to admire native plants and birds.