Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Sw., Lygodiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

High risk, score: 23 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific)).
Reject, score: 25 (Go to the risk assessment (U.S. Florida)).
Moderate to moderate-high risk (Go to the risk assessment (United States)) (PDF format).

Other Latin names:  Ophioglossum japonicum Thunb.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Japanese climbing fern

Japanese: kani-kusa, tsuru-shinobu

Habit:  fern

Description:  "A large, bright green and twining fern with short-creeping rhizomes.  Leaves are up to 5 m long, bipinnately compound with widely spaced pinnae along the rachis.  Pinnae are fertile or sterile, 10-18 cm long and 7-10 cm wide, and consist of 2-3 leaflets of up to 7 cm length and 2.5 cm width.  Fertile leaflets are flabellate and have eight or more narrow lobes.  Sterile pinnae are triangular, with the sterile leaflets being palmate to deeply lobed. Sporangia open upwardly and are attached on free veinlets"  (Weber, 2003; p. 251).

Habitat/ecology:  "Tropical hammocks, riparian habitats, disturbed places.  This fast growing fern twines around small stems and branches of trees and shrubs.  It quickly climbs to the canopy and forms dense mats there, shading out the host trees and any other supporting vegetation.  It can weaken or even kill smothered trees.  The dry dead fronds are flammable and in fire-prone regions the fern carries fires from the ground to the forest canopies, thus intensifying wild fires"  (Weber, 2003; p. 251).

Propagation:  Spores

Native range:  India through eastern and southeastern Asia, extending to the Philippines (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wilson, K. A. (1996) Voucher cited: Wilson 2437 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wilson, K. A. (1996) Vouchers cited: Staples 1166 (BISH), Gagne s.n. (BISH, LAM)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wilson, Kenneth A. (2003) (p. 5) Voucher cited: Staples et al. 1166 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2012) (p. 47) Voucher cited: OISC 20110601 (BISH)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive cultivated	Australian Biological Resources Study (2013) "Probably a garden escape".
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalised
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 11)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 57) Naturalised
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced invasive	Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. (2001) (p. 167)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced invasive	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2013) "Reported as weedy in southern Alabama and Florida where its dense canopy can eliminate underlying vegetation."

Comments:  Planting of this species is prohibited in Miami-Dade County, Florida (U.S.) (Miami-Dade County Dept. of Planning and Zoning, 2010).

Control: 

Physical:  "Small infestations can be controlled by repeated hand pulling or cutting".

Chemical:  "In Florida [US], the vines are pulled from the trees and treated with a foliar spray of a mixture of triclopyr and an oil surfactant"  (Weber, 2003; p. 266).