Putting exotic plants in our gardens reduces the availability of habitat to Costa Rica’s native fauna. When we do this, we may unknowingly cause the possible spread of non-native plants that could affect wild ecosystems of the region. How do we know which plants are invasive? On this site we offer a list of exotic plants with recognized invasive behavior, but in reality any exotic plant that easily reproduces itself is a potential invasive species.

How can plants escape from our garden?

- Throwing organic waste (weeding left overs) out of the garden.  What is left over from weeding or vegetative material from exotic plants generally ends up being thrown on to roadsides or river banks; this “waste” then plants itself, which is the most common and effective way for exotic plants to reproduce. A plant that reproduces a lot in this form on our river banks is white ginger, Hedychium coronarium. If on the other hand this vegetative material is finely chopped and turned into organic mulch it does not represent a problem; actually it gives us a useful product for gardening.

- Some plants “walk”: Sometimes we grow plants on the border of our lot or garden that little by little escape. An example of this is bamboo, with rhizomes that can travel 20 or 30 meters from the mother plant. Perennial peanut (Arachis pintoi) is another plant that can escape from gardens.

-Dispersal by birds: Birds may eat fruit from exotic plants, although given the option, they prefer native fruit. Pressure on native habitat has caused some birds to adapt to food such as exotic fruits of species which don’t provide shelter or food to the birds’ main source of food – insects. Birds eat exotic fruit and later defecate in another place, therefore dispersing the seeds. A case of dispersal by birds is the pink velvet banana, Musa velutina.