With all good intentions
Recently I was sent three pictures of a tree that needed identification. I referred it to the Extension, who confirmed their ID as a ficus, because that is what it looked like. The sender said it did not have the tell-tale aerial roots, tho’. It isn’t easy to ID from pictures; we really need a physical presence of parts of the plant. It was later found to be a java plum, which would have been easy to confirm by crinkling the leaves and getting their turpentine smell. Java plum is on the Category I Invasive Exotic Plant list.
The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s 2015 list of Invasive Plant Species is now out. Category I Invasive Exotics are plants altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures, or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives. This definition does not rely on the economic severity or geographic range of the problem, but on the documented ecological damage caused.
Category II includes invasive exotics that have increased in abundance or frequency but have not yet altered Florida plant communities to the extent shown by Category I species. These species may become ranked Category I if ecological damage is demonstrated.
Highly invasives are not to be planted and are to be removed from common landscapes in unincorporated Lee County by order of the land development code section 10-420. However, it doesn’t apply to family residential lots. The lists fascinate me because of the trees I still find in our landscapes. Trees I like. (Never met a tree I didn’t like).
It reminded me that in the late ’70s, early ’80s, I worked in a local nursery. We had a devastating freeze that lasted more than 30 hours continuously, freezing most all our mature trees. The nursery had kept sprinklers going intermittently all night, at three, 20-minute intervals. Every large plant left out was covered in icicles. A wondrous sight to behold.
At that time in Cape Coral’s development, the homes were mainly owned by senior citizens, the younging up of citizens came later, meaning, this crowd didn’t have time to wait 50 to 100 years for shade and sturdy trees. The nursery owner promptly found three fast-growing trees and we sold them like crazy. Java plum with its edible fruits, Bischofia or Toog tree and I don’t recall the third. Today, these are both on the invasive Category I list. Biscofias were planted extensively in our street medians, where some still exist, leaving a black sticky road underneath during fruiting season. Their roots can tear up concrete 5 to 6 feet away. The Benjamina ficus were killed and the black olives froze to the ground. The black olives came back from their roots as shrubs or multiple trees. The one lonely exemption to the deaths was the red plumed bottlebrush, now on the Category II list, in the barren landscape.
Java plum, a member of the myrtle family, can squeeze out Brazilian peppers, which we all fight as a voracious invasive brought in for ornamental horticulture and its decorative berries. Introduced in 1911 as a windbreak, there is much to be said for the java plum, Syzygium cumini, and its edible fruits. Fruits that will pucker your mouth if not really ripe, some people use salt on them to eat them, and they are healthy. It is also called jambolan.
We are not the only ones who like the fruit – raccoons, wild pigs, birds and squirrels eat them and deposit them in a new location, which causes our problem. Even though it hasn’t spread as rapidly as other invasives, it has a dense canopy that allows nothing to grow underneath, thus native plants are pushed out of existence.
Capable of growing 40 to 50 feet tall and wide, with medium green leaves that faintly smell of turpentine when crushed, they usually fork into several trunks. Fragrant flowers are white, wispy, bottlebrush-like bloom clusters in the summer and fall. These give way to large olive-shaped red and black fruits with white flesh, and only one seed. The juice will stain hands, sidewalks and cars. Jellies, jams and wine are made from them. Other religions and cultures find many medicinal values in almost all parts. The wood is water resistant and used to install well motors, for posts and construction material.
I sent a question to the Extension’s “Ask an Expert” and received a reply from Matt Stevens, Halifax County Co-op Extension – “Java plum is invasive due to its prolific fruit production. Fruits are inevitably eaten by birds and squirrels, eating them and passing them. They are nearly impossible to remove, as they come right back after being cut to the ground. I wouldn’t recommend planting any, but since she has already got one, I don’t think much can be done.”
I read where, if they are cut down, they resprout 20-foot tall rapidly. It is illegal to grow, plant or transplant java plum in Sanibel.
Like the Australian pine that is actually not a pine, which was brought in as a beach windbreaker and for its scenic beauty, the melaluca brought in to dry up our wetlands, making land more suitable for human use, the java plum was brought to us with good intentions.
It was pointed out to me that there are no landscape police. This is in each of our own prerogatives to do the best thing, just don’t expect to pass a FYN certified lawn inspection and receive a certificate or a lawn sign.
As a Master Gardener, I find I cannot recommend all trees, but those we have, be blessed by them and thank them.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, hibiscus enthusiast and member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.