Family: Pteridaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Thrives in tropical climates
  
• Widely naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere
  
• Weedy fern of disturbed habitats
  
• Potential environmental weed
  
• Other Pteris species have become invasive
  
• Accumulates arsenic from soil, becoming toxic
  
• Spores a possible human allergen
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Produces viable spores that are dispersed by wind, water and probably externally by humans and animals
  
• Hybridizes with other Pteris species
  
• Can reproduce asexually by agamospermy and vegetatively by rhizomes
  
• Prolific spore production

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Palatable to animals despite potential toxicity
  
• Ornamental
  
• Spores may be short-lived in the soil and are unlikely to form a persistent spore bank