Descriptive Information
- Field marks: evergreen shrub or small tree, alternately arranged pinnately compound leaves, each leaf made up of 4-6 lateral leaflets and are oblong shaped with a rounded end, the leaflets are roughly 4cm wide and 10cm long they have a darker shiny topside and a dull pale green below, upon breaking the leaf a strong aromatic smell is released, its flowers are white with 5 ovate petals, small in size, its fruiting structures are berry like, round in appearance with a bright red fleshy outside that houses one seed
- Size: typically a evergreen shrub to small tree ranging 3-7 meters (9-21 feet) tall
- General habitat: flourishes in disturbed areas where the substrate has been altered in some way possibly allowing better nutrients to be present and increased aeration such as drained land for farms or roads or land disrupted by hurricanes, it grows in a variety of moist habitats, that in the Florida Everglades include hardwood hammocks, pine rocklands, and sawgrass marshes, it also has a tolerance to salinity lower than 5ppt and has been seen in the mangrove swamps, it is typically exluded from areas where there are extended periods of flooding or areas where there are closed canopies
- Geographic range: indigenous to South American subtropical countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina but occurs naturally as far north as Mexico, it has been introduced to a variety of other subtropical areas around the world from the Caribbean Islands to the Mediterranean to China and Australia, it was also introduced as an ornamental plant to the United States in California, Hawaii, and Florida ( it now covers over 700,000 acres in southern Florida alone)
- Ecosystem(s) where observed: Pinelands, Eco Pond, and on the edges of the Sawgrass Marsh, Coastal Praire, and Hardwood Hammock
- Other information: Considered an invasive exotic pest plant that dominates the land it takes root in the Everglades growing in vast monotypic stands excluding native plant species. It is an aggresive plant that has become a serious threat to the Everglades biological integrity by outcompeting native plants for resources thereby destroying natural feeding grounds for many animal species.
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