Time for Air Potato Removal at Hammock Park

Hammock Park gets some TLC on Saturday morning.

The public is invited to help remove invasive air potatoes from a potentially rampant vine that threatens native plants an 85-acre natural park on San Mateo Drive.

What is the air potato?

"It is an invasive we don't want to tolerate," Stephen Brown, of the Lee County extension, says in a video produced for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The air potato is an Asian native from the yam family, introduced to Florida from Africa in 1905. It is listed as one of Florida’s most invasive species, according to the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. 

The plant is a fast-growing vine with heart-shaped leaves and potato-like bulbs that sprout new plants. The vine tends to choke out native plants ("It is like a Burmese python around your very body," Brown says) and it is toxic if consumed.

Removing the bulbs is the most effective way to manage vine from spreading, according to the UF website.

The city purchased the park, virtually unspoiled from 1846, before it became a state, in 1965 (for $175,000). It contains more than 300 native species of plants and animals, roughly 100 species of birds, five miles of walking trails and 100-year-old hardwood trees.

Want to help?

• When: Saturday, Jan. 14, 9 to 11:30 a.m.
• Where: , 1900 San Mateo Drive
• What you may want to bring: Sunscreen, water, gloves, insect repellent, close-toed walking shoes