Family: Asparagaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Thrives in tropical climates
  
• Elevation range exceeds 1000 m
  
• Widely naturalized, including all main Hawaiian Islands except Niihau
  
• An environmental weed
  
• Related Agave species have become invasive
  
• Leaves may have terminal spines and prickles along the margins
  
• Unpalatable
  
• Toxic to cattle and other animals
  
• Sap can cause dermatitis and may be poisonous if ingested
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Can from dense monocultures that exclude other vegetation
  
• Spreads vegetatively by suckering and formation of bulbils
  
• Starts to spread vegetatively after 1 year
  
• Can resprout if only aboveground vegetative material is removed

Low Risk Traits:

• Rarely produces seeds, and not reported to produce seeds in the Hawaiian Islands
  
• Requires full sun
  
• Fiber plant
  
• Lack of seed production makes long distance and inadvertent dispersal unlikely
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control