An Invasive Plant From Asia Is Spreading Across Pensacola Beach. UWF Wants Help Pulling It.

Beach vitex has spread to 69 sites on Pensacola Beach since 2012. The annual April Weed Wrangle targets public land, but 47 of the 84 non-park sites are on private property.

A plant from Asia has been spreading across Pensacola Beach for over a decade, and researchers at UWF want help stopping it.

Beach vitex, Vitex rotundifolia, is an invasive coastal shrub first reported in Escambia County in 2012. It spreads through radiating runners that overtake sand dunes and displace native vegetation. UWF Sea Grant Extension Agent Rick O'Connor has now documented 109 infestation sites across the Pensacola Bay area.

Of those, 69 are on Pensacola Beach, 91 percent clustered east of Casino Beach, between Casino Beach and Park East. Another 24 sites are at Naval Live Oaks near Gulf Breeze. Additional records exist at Navarre Beach, Perdido Key and Perdido Bay.

Twenty-five sites fall within Gulf Islands National Seashore, managed by the National Park Service. Of the remaining 84, 47 are on private property.

Every April, UWF and Gulf Breeze High School students run a Weed Wrangle, a targeted removal effort on public land. This year's event focuses on the concentration east of Casino Beach.

Private property owners can contact O'Connor at roc1@ufl.edu for identification help and removal guidance.