With rain pouring off their backs and soil covering their jeans, volunteers throughout Gainesville got their hands dirty at the 11th annual Great Air Potato Roundup Saturday.
More than 1,000 people traipsed over soil and through trees in pursuit of anything resembling Dioscorea bulbifera, the brown, ball-shaped lumps more commonly known as the air potato.
The volunteers, most representing various service organizations, were stationed in about 30 different locations, according to Geoffrey Parks, a habitat naturalist with the City of Gainesville’s Nature Operations Division.
Although the number of volunteers was fewer than last year’s Roundup, which drew more than 1,200 people, Parks was pleased with the turnout. He expected only several hundred people to show up due to the rain.
“Given the weather, we were blown away,” he said.
The air potato is considered an exotic invasive plant, which means it is not native to the U.S. and can grow quickly.
According to Parks, January is the best time to find the air potatoes since the tubers, the part of the plant that stores nutrients, begin to fall off the vines. He said those still attached are visible enough to be picked out of the trees.
According to Ronald Lange, who acted as a supervisor for the UF Nursery site, the air potatoes pose a serious threat that, if allowed to grow for an extended period of time, can blanket and smother surrounding vegetation.
