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    Center For Aquatic And Invasive Plants

    Center For Aquatic And Invasive Plants

    Section 1 - Header
    • plants.ifas.ufl.edu
    • Why Manage Plants
    • Florida's Invasive Aquatic Plants
    • Wild Taro

    Wild taro

    Quick Facts

    • Scientific name: Colocasia esculenta
    • Origin: India, Southeast Asia
    • Introduction: Early 1900s, food crop
    • Aquatic community: Emergent
    • Habitat: Wet soils, shallow water, floating islands
    • Distribution: Statewide
    • Management effort: Eradicate new colonies
    • 2020 Acres Treated: 2

    Wild Taro Wild Taro


    thumbnail image

    Environmental and Economic Concerns

    • Displaces native plants, especially along shaded shorelines and in wooded wetlands
    • One of the most widely dispersed invasive aquatic plants in Florida’s public water bodies
      • present in about 55% of Florida public waters
    • Shoreline populations break loose, forming floating islands
      • block access
      • cover native plant habitat
    • Roots in new areas, spreading the infestation

    Management Options

    • Biological: None available
    • Chemical: Imazamox, 2,4-D + diquat + Kinetic, glyphosate
    • Mechanical: Harvest floating mats; roots fragment into new plant
    • Physical: Hand pulling; use caution due to oxalic acid irritant in plant. Need to remove entire rhizome or plant will regrow.

    Data compiled from "What’s Happening on my Lake" by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

     

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    UF / IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
    7922 NW 71 Street Gainesville, FL 32653
    (352) 392-9613

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