GROUNDS MAINTENANCE/Potato vine tangles up Hollywood

For the past several years, Hollywood, Fla., has hosted an unwelcome guest: the “Air potato.” Creeping into local parks, the potato vines and seeds have demanded constant attention from the city and local volunteers.

Indigenous to West Africa, where it is cultivated, the Air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) can be poisonous in uncultivated forms. It is believed to have been introduced in Florida in 1905 as food and as an ornamental plant. By the 1970s, however, locals had rejected it because of its invasive quality.

The Air potato threatens native shrubs and trees, growing upward into tree canopies, smothering them and blocking out sunlight. The vines can be as long as 70 feet.

The plant is particularly difficult to eradicate because the potatoes fall off the vine, quickly grow roots and overtake the native undergrowth. The species also is dispersed when birds pick up the seeds and transport them to other areas.

Typically, each potato must be removed from the ground by hand. That is not an easy task because there could be hundreds of potatoes in the ground beneath a vine, according to Frances Nipe, operations manager for Hollywood’s Public Works Department. Areas that do not have other vegetation can be treated with a pesticide.

Last year, the Public Works Department began focusing on potato removal efforts at John Williams Park – a popular destination for hikers, picnickers and campers. About half the park was infested with the vines, and the Public Works Department’s goal was to stop them from spreading into nearby Sheridan Oak Forest.

Public Works crews and contractors finished removing the vines from trees this year, and they are now targeting the potatoes in the ground. Reaching out to local schools, the department sponsored an “Air Potato Roundup” to encourage student volunteers to work in the park and pick up potatoes. In addition, a local Boy Scout troop, which frequently camps overnight in John Williams Park, has committed to participating in an Adopt-A-Park program to remove potatoes.

Once the cleanup portion is complete, crews will start replanting native shrubs to invigorate the underbrush, which serves as a habitat and food source for birds and other wildlife. Nipe says the department hopes to complete removal over the next six months and will continue to monitor area parks to prevent re-infestation. For its citywide invasive species removal program, Hollywood received an award for Environmental Project of the Year from the American Public Works Association, Kansas City, Mo.