Cover Illustration: A severe infestation of Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. located at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Martin County, Florida, USA. A native of the Old World tropics, L. microphyllum has become a serious pest in the forested wetlands of South Florida since naturalizing in the 1960s. Within severe infestations, this vine-like fern can smother both the understory and canopy, disrupting the recruitment of native vegetation and altering local fire ecology. The spread of this species appears to be facilitated by its ability to reproduce via intragametophytic selfing. See Lott et al.: The reproductive biology of the invasive ferns Lygodium microphyllum and L. japonicum (Schizaeaceae): implications for invasive potential, pp. 1144-1152 in this issue. Photo credit: M. Lott.
[Table of Contents]
Copyright © 2003 by the Botanical Society of America, Inc.
