Plants

Invasive plants in Virginia are tracked through 2 genuinely different systems that carry very different legal weight, and according to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the agency’s own Invasive Plant Species List, updated to 103 species in September 2024, is published purely for educational purposes and carries no regulatory authority on its own. … Read more

Invasive plants in Georgia are tracked annually through the Georgia Forestry Commission’s informal “Dirty Dozen” list, which ranks the state’s 12 worst invasive species specifically by how many acres each one currently occupies. According to UGA Cooperative Extension, non-native privet holds the top spot on that list, and separate UGA reporting on the issue puts … Read more

Invasive plants in Massachusetts are governed by one of the most comprehensive state-level bans in the country, and according to UMass Amherst’s Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources bans the importation and sale of more than 140 plants identified as either noxious or invasive across the Commonwealth. That … Read more

Invasive plant species in Tennessee are legally regulated on a notably small, precise scale compared to some neighboring states, and according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, the state’s Pest Plant Rule regulates the transport and sale of just 13 plant species across 9 different genera. That list includes purple loosestrife, tropical soda apple, Chinese … Read more

Invasive plant species in Connecticut move through a genuinely deliberate, multi-year legislative pipeline before an outright sales ban ever takes effect, and according to the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group, a UConn-hosted consortium now in its 27th year of operation, the state-mandated Invasive Plants Council reviews candidate species and recommends changes to the legislature’s Environment … Read more

Invasive plant species in Alaska include a genuinely unusual case that illustrates just how different the state’s ecosystem is from the rest of the country. According to the Alaska Division of Agriculture’s Plant Materials Center, elodea is the first invasive freshwater aquatic plant ever documented in Alaska, and remarkably, it isn’t considered a noxious weed … Read more

Types of oak trees in California make up one of the richest oak floras of any U.S. state, and according to UC Master Gardeners of San Luis Obispo County, the state is home to 15 native oak species, though only 8 of those actually reach full tree size, with the rest remaining shrubby chaparral species … Read more

Invasive plant species in Wisconsin are regulated through a genuinely unusual system that varies not just by species but by county, and according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the state’s invasive species rule, known as NR 40, divides regulated species into 2 categories, prohibited and restricted, covering more than 128 species total across … Read more

Invasive plant species in the UK are regulated through Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and according to Hampshire Ecological Services, that schedule has listed 48 plant species since April 6, 2010, making it a criminal offence to cause any one of them to spread in the wild. According to the Royal … Read more

Invasive plant species in Canada are regulated through a genuinely fragmented system rather than a single unified national law, and according to the Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation, the country relies on 2 federal statutes, each with a narrow and distinct purpose, rather than a comprehensive invasive species framework. The Plant Protection Act focuses … Read more