Diplazium esculentum (vegetable fern).

Abstract Diplazium esculentum is a herbaceous fern native to Asia. It has been introduced into a number of countries in Africa, Oceania and North America as an ornamental and as a food source. As it produces a large number of spores it can easily escape cultivation and rapidly spread into new areas. The species is reported as having escaped cultivation and become invasive in Hawaii, USA, New Zealand and Australia. In Hawaii, D. esculentum grows abundantly in wet valleys and in sheltered moist areas at dry sites. It is also a frequent volunteer in gardens. In New Zealand it has escaped from cultivation, spreading rapidly and aggressively in riverbanks at an average rate of spread of 1 m per year. In Australia the species is widely cultivated for food and as an ornamental, naturalising in swampy areas of Queensland. Its impacts on other habitats or species are unknown.