Carrotwood Tree seed pod. Susan Michael Barrett.
“What are you doing, Susan?” a neighbor asks.
“Picking up Carrotwood seeds.”
“Why?”
“To take care of the babies.”
“Babies?”
“Oh. I mean the mangroves. Mangroves are the ocean’s nurseries.”
“Oh. I mean the mangroves. Mangroves are the ocean’s nurseries.”
“I don’t get it.”
“You see, birds, especially that American Fish Crow, binge on these like I eat potato chips. And then they poop them everywhere.”
“Say more.”
“Mangrove Trees aren’t highly competitive. The aggressive Carrotwood Trees are. They’re altering the natural biodiversity. So these potential trees deeply affect our oceans.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Pause.
“I’ll help you pick them up.”
NOTES
The Carrotwood Tree was introduced into Florida about the year I was born. It is described as desirable, fast-growing, easy to propagate, disease and pest-resistant, and adaptable to coastal conditions.
The Carrotwood Tree gets an A+ in adaptation.
Here’s the F part: it’s aggressive. Like on the top tier of invasive trees to Florida aggressive. A plant or tree can become aggressive when it leaves its native place where it has predators and controls—where it’s part of an ecosystem that works.
The Carrotwoods in Wildewood Springs IIA were planted in the late 70s before landscapers knew what they now know. Now it is illegal to plant a Carrotwood tree in central Florida. Until they’re removed, we prune them before they seed.
Tons of branches bursting with seedpods were cut this week. Afterward, I filled two super-size trash bins with nickel-sized seeds that fell on the ground during pruning.
