In 1965 Robert Wilson planted a row of king ferns (Angiopteris evecta; Marattiaceae) along the Rio Java trail about 100 meters before it enters the forest. Over the years, these ferns have become huge, with massive trunks about one meter tall and gracefully arching leaves four to six meters long (Fig. 1). Native to the islands of the western Pacific, the king fern has a remarkable story about how it arrived in the New World and came to be cultivated at Las Cruces. Also remarkable—and cause for concern—is the fern's "behavior" at Las Cruces since its original planting by Wilson.
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