How do ya like them apples?

In a classic example of disturbance-induced invasion, a stretch of road in Brooksville, Florida has become infested with tropical soda apple (Solanum viarum), after construction workers widened the road last year. According to this article in the St. Petersburg Times, a nearby homeowner familiar with the species saw populations explode shortly after the construction project was completed. Officials in Hernando County are unsure of whether the existing seed bank was just reacting to disturbance, or whether the soil brought in for the project was contaminated. They are responding to the problem by sending out crews to pull the weeds and spray along the road with herbicide.