Family: Piperaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Naturalized and invasive in Micronesia, Tonga, Florida, Hawaii
  
• Environmental weed
  
• Congeneric (P. aduncum) is invasive
  
• Forms dense monotypic thickets via rhizomes
  
• Reproduces vegetatively (suckering, layering)
  
• Fast growing: 15 ft in 9 months; 1-year generation time
  
• Bird-, bat-, and rodent-dispersed seeds
  
• High seed germination after gut passage (96% in bats)
  
• Dispersed unintentionally (machinery) and intentionally (ornamental, food, medicine)
  
• Tolerates cutting; resprouts from roots and nodes
  
• Shade tolerant

Low Risk Traits:

• No spines, thorns, or burrs
  
• Not parasitic, toxic, or a fire hazard
  
• Not an agricultural weed
  
• Narrow soil tolerance (acidic, moist)
  
• Not wind-, water-, or externally animal-dispersed
  
• Low seed production in some regions (e.g., no seeds in US)
  
• Likely controllable with herbicides