Florida's war with an exotic plant
*A Trilogy to beware

    I. The Scaly bark beefwood Australian Pine is native to Australia. Its roots lie close to and sometimes partially exposed above the ground producing suckers at an alarming rate. Each sucker contains a baby tree. When looking at a site of these trees, it has the appearance of a mother tree with hundreds of baby trees sprouting from the ground. It's surprising what an extensive perimeter the root system has, and the amount of offspring generated beneath the foliage. The mother tree reaches heights in access of 70 feet.
    II. Another of the three Australian Pines growing in Florida is the Horsetail beefwood that reaches a height of 100 feet. The tree does not sucker, but does sprout new babies from the seeds in the vicinity of the parent plant. They seem to spread and spread endlessly, unchecked until there is a whole stand of the trees where once there were none. Its spindly branches reach out on a 45 degree angle and can reach 30 to 40 feet obstructing space and sunlight that would normally be used by native shrubs and plant life. The branches do break and the trees are easily uprooted in strong winds.
    III. The Cunningham beefwood Australian Pine reaches a height of 50 feet and has some suckers producing new sprouts and similar characteristics to the other Australian Pines. Here again the surface of the ground beneath the tree will be void of other forms of life found in nature.
When is a pine tree not a pine tree?
    Although they are called Australian Pine trees, they are not true pine trees. The leaves are round and are not needles, as many people may think. Instead they have been modified by their genes making them round instead of flat. Perhaps the genes of the tree were influenced farther back in time to conserve space and provided an extra 20,000 or 30,000 round leaves to make it look like a pine tree.
Why are these trees that are called "she-oaks" so sinister?
    Due to the lack of sunlight, photosynthesis ( natures provider for the life cycles of plants, animal, and insects) is denied. All native flora dies and most of the living creatures cease to exist beneath the foliage of this tree. The tree is unpredictable, causing beach dune erosion which disrupts sea turtle nesting, resulting in unhatched eggs or no nest at all.
    Each member of the three Australian Pine trees has something in common; the take over of the immediate vicinity of land and space. They are attractive trees but give a false impression of grandeur. Instead, they become established, destroy wildlife, vegetation, and claim more acreage for themselves. This tree species must be controlled in Florida and eradicated before they destroy the biological diversity of Florida's pristine areas. Southern Florida had 373,723 acres lost to the tree in a short period of time.
Warning!! Warning!! Warning!!
     The Australian Pine trees have been classified as one of the exotics giving Florida a real problem. A dictionary describes an exotic as something foreign that is fascinating, beautiful, and exciting. However, in the case of the Australian pines, destructive and demanding should be added to the definition. Who knows what evil lies in the genes of this She-oak tree?