Word: casuarina
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...often true, the incursion of aliens was abetted and, in some cases, initiated by well-intentioned but misguided horticulturists. When the Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) gained a foothold in Florida around 1920, landscapers adopted it as a windbreak and hedge. Casuarina rapidly established itself at the edges of canal banks and natural waterways; along the southwest coast of the 1.5 million-acre Everglades National Park, the pine's shallow roots are now so dense that they are destroying the sandy beaches on which the threatened loggerhead sea turtle lays its eggs...
...roar through the marshlands in dry seasons. Smoke and sparks from burning melaleucas caused numerous accidents on U.S. Highway 27 north of Miami during last month's fires. However, fire does not kill this pest tree; the insulating bark protects it even as the leaves burn. And like the Casuarina and Schinus, the Melaleuca is quick to invade areas scorched clear of native vegetation. Mature Melaleuca stands so solidly that it keeps out wildlife. Says Morton: "When I say solid, a rabbit can't get through." Melaleuca has already colonized 60 sq. mi. of swampland in southern Florida...