Koster's Curse

Description:

This plant that I found was about 3 feet tall and didn't have any flowers or fruits yet. The leaves were 13 cm long and 7 cm wide. Its leaf shape is ovate and its leaf margins is sirrulate. It has a fuzzy texture on the leaf. The leaf venation is netted pinnate/pairnate and the leaf arrangement is opposite. This plant grows on a stem, not a trunk.

Habitat:

This plant is growing in a secondary rainforest in a shady area. It was shaded by some tall trees.

Notes:

Koster's Curse is an invasive plant species in many tropical regions of the world, creating serious damage. The plant grows 1-5 meters tall, depending on the habitat. It flowers and fruits all year, if conditions are moist enough. A large plant can produce more than 500 fruits in a single year. It was originally known as "the curse" for the damage it did to coconut plantations. Koster's Curse can form dense thickets that smother plantations, pastures, and native vegetation.