I thought it was a rose as soon as I set eyes on it. How could I have overlooked a rose in my wanderings through these woods? This three ft tall plant is growing on the edge of the red mangroves and wasn’t here last year. As pink buds opening in the warm sun, this plant is beautiful with the exception of the mealy bugs that appear to be lining the stems. Its’ beauty is the reason this plant was brought to Florida from south Asia in the first place. It is now listed as a category 1 invasive by FLEPPC, the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council. Not a rose at all but a member of the myrtaceae family and native to southern and southeastern Asia, The Downy rose myrtle Rhodomyrtus tomentosa is an evergreen shrub that usually grows to 6 ft tall and occasionally to 12 ft. “Downy” is the common name that describes the tomentum, the soft hairy undersides of the leaf which are light green while the upper leaf is dark green and glossy. It produces a popular fruit for birds and humans like to make jam from them. Invasive exotics displace native plants and change the ecosystem. We have seen this happen with so many plants already like the melaleuca and the Brazilian pepper. Beautiful as it may be I will be pulling them up as I see them so I can continue to see the flora of Florida.
