Pheasant Tail (Nephrolepis exaltata) is potentially an extremely invasive plant species. Thick stands of it can be seen on the road-sides, in places it is so thick that nothing else can grow through it. You can see very good examples of what this fern is capable of when you go for a walk through the Plantation Forest or for a picnic near St Helena & the Cross Church. When you look at these sites you get the false impression that it is harmless and lovely and that there is nothing wrong with growing this fern. However...

• It is useless for pastures as cows don’t eat it
• It can suffocate kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) and even crowd out whiteweed (Austroeupatorium inulaefolium), and probably destroy the endemic plants if given a chance
• It doesn’t support much insect life as a food source
• It doesn’t die when you pull the plant out of the ground and is difficult to get rid of once established

• It is a commonly used fern in flower arrangements and bouquets and can be spread that way
• It can grow from tiny spores blowing in the wind, run along the ground, or come up from little underground potato-looking structures
• It is now threatening the very existence of St Helena’s endemic Tree Fern forests on the Peaks
• And it definitely doesn’t belong on St Helena

Some of you might remember how whiteweed was once used in flower arrangements and bouquets with its lovely white flowers and showy green leaves. Little did we know then that this harmless and lovely looking plant would become such a massive invasive as it is now.
It makes one wonder... would things be different now, if back then someone could have told us that whiteweed was potentially such a very invasive plant species and so costly to remove?
A concerted effort from one and all will be the only way to possibly halt the march of Pheasant Tail towards Diana’s Peak National Park. Let’s take this threat seriously now and start weeding it out the best we can.

Lourens Malan
Horticultural Support Officer
OTEP Project: Supporting Critical Species Recovery and Horticultural Needs on St Helena

Related Information

The Invasive Speices Project Page