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 the species’ current footprint at nearly 717,000 acres across the state, making it by far the most widespread invasive plant in Georgia’s forests.
Kudzu, the plant most people associate with invasive species in the South, tells an even more dramatic story. According to reporting drawing on data from UGA’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, the vine is now present in every single Georgia county, first introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and later planted widely throughout the eastern United States as an erosion-control measure. Its root system can weigh up to 400 pounds, and its semi-woody roots can extend anywhere from 3 to 16 feet deep, helping explain why the vine has proven so resistant to eradication once established.
A newer arrival may ultimately prove even more difficult to manage than kudzu. According to University of Georgia reporting, cogongrass has been called “the new kudzu” by scientists across the Southeast, arriving in the country on ships that docked in Alabama where it was originally used as packing material before being evaluated, unsuccessfully, as a forage grass that cattle simply refuse to eat. It’s now a federal noxious weed found across the Deep South, considered by UGA weed scientists to be one of the worst weeds in the entire world. What follows covers 30 invasive plants in Georgia, along with where each one grows and the data behind its spread.
Chinese Privet
Chinese privet, and according to the Georgia Forestry Commission, currently occupies nearly 717,000 acres across the state, making it the single most widespread invasive plant tracked in Georgia’s forests. It was introduced in the early 1800s as an ornamental hedging plant and spreads both by root sprouts and by bird- and mammal-dispersed seeds.
It grows throughout the state, preferring moist, open land but tolerating both heavily shaded and dry conditions, commonly forming dense thickets in fields and forest understories alike.
Nepalese Browntop
Nepalese browntop, also called Japanese stiltgrass, ranks second on Georgia’s Dirty Dozen list, and its ability to grow in fully shaded conditions makes it a particular concern in mountain forests where it can invade natural clearings that most other invasive grasses can’t reach. It spreads readily via abundant seed production each fall.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, particularly in the mountainous northern part of the state, forming dense mats that crowd out native woodland wildflowers and tree seedlings.
Kudzu
Kudzu, and according to UGA’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, is now present in every Georgia county, having been first introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Its root system can weigh up to 400 pounds, and it often grows over, shades out, and kills all other vegetation it encounters, including mature trees.
It grows throughout disturbed roadsides, forest edges, and old fields statewide, and its stems can reach 4 inches in diameter with leaflets up to 4 inches wide.
Cogongrass
Cogongrass, and according to University of Georgia reporting, has been dubbed “the new kudzu” by scientists across the Southeast, arriving in Alabama ports as packing material before spreading as an accidental and intentional introduction. It forms dense mats that exclude all other vegetation and is federally listed as a noxious weed, spreading in a distinctive circular pattern that helps identify new infestations.
It’s found in scattered southwest Georgia counties, including a 20-acre site documented in Mitchell County, and its highly flammable foliage creates a significant winter wildfire hazard.
Japanese Climbing Fern
Japanese climbing fern, according to UGA’s Chris Evans of the Bugwood Network, can spread even faster than kudzu over greater distances despite growing at a comparably explosive rate. It was introduced to the United States in the 1930s as an ornamental before its invasive potential became apparent.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, climbing and choking neighboring plants, and its spores can hitch a ride in pine straw, prompting both Alabama and Florida to regulate pine straw imports specifically because of this fern.
Tree of Heaven
Tree of heaven produces large, compound leaves and grows remarkably fast even by invasive tree standards, with root sprouts capable of reaching several feet in their very first year alone. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia, and it also serves as the preferred host plant for the invasive spotted lanternfly.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, particularly along roadsides, rail corridors, and disturbed urban lots, and its rapid, suckering growth makes it notoriously difficult to eliminate through cutting alone.
Mimosa
Mimosa, present in 94% of Georgia counties according to state invasive species tracking, produces fern-like leaves and fragrant pink summer flowers on a small tree that’s remained an ornamental favorite for decades despite its documented invasiveness. It’s difficult to remove once established given its long-lived seeds and vigorous resprouting ability.
It grows throughout disturbed habitat statewide, particularly old fields, stream banks, and roadsides.
Alligator Weed
Alligator weed produces small white flower clusters on a plant capable of growing in wet soil, shallow water, or fully submerged conditions, giving it an unusually broad range of habitats it can invade. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia.
It grows throughout wetland and waterway margins across the state, spreading readily from even small fragmented pieces of stem or root.
Common Water Hyacinth
Common water hyacinth produces rounded, glossy leaves atop inflated, spongy stems that keep the plant afloat, forming dense mats capable of covering an entire waterway’s surface. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia, and a single mat can double in coverage within roughly 2 weeks under warm conditions.
It grows throughout warm, slow-moving waterways across the state, blocking light and oxygen from native aquatic plants and fish.
Autumn Olive
Autumn olive produces bright green leaves that are distinctively silver underneath, with strongly fragrant cream to pale yellow flowers each spring. Because it fixes atmospheric nitrogen through its root system, it can alter soil chemistry in ways that favor its own continued spread over native vegetation.
It grows throughout old fields and disturbed ground across Georgia, classified as a Category 1 invasive species in the state.
Hydrilla
Hydrilla produces small, inconspicuous white flowers on thread-like stalks reaching the water’s surface from a submerged stem capable of forming dense underwater mats. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia, consuming significant public funding for control statewide.
It grows throughout freshwater lakes, rivers, and canals across Georgia, considered one of the most aggressively managed aquatic invasive species in the country.
Japanese Honeysuckle
Japanese honeysuckle produces fragrant, tubular white flowers that fade to yellow, growing on an aggressively twining, semi-evergreen vine capable of smothering shrubs and small trees entirely. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia given its vigorous, nearly year-round growth in the state’s mild climate.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, forming dense blankets over understory vegetation that block sunlight from everything beneath it.
Chinese Wisteria
Chinese wisteria produces long, cascading clusters of fragrant purple flowers on an aggressively twining, woody vine capable of girdling and eventually killing mature host trees. It’s classified as a Category 1 invasive plant in Georgia, and a yard containing it cannot be certified by the Georgia Native Plant Society.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, forming dense canopies over native trees that can collapse entire sections of forest under the vine’s accumulated weight.
English Ivy
English ivy is an evergreen climbing and groundcover vine that spreads via both seed and rooting stems, planted for decades as low-maintenance landscaping before its invasive woodland behavior became widely recognized. Once a vine climbs high enough into full sun, its leaf shape changes from the familiar lobed juvenile form to a simpler, unlobed adult leaf capable of flowering and fruiting.
It grows throughout much of Georgia as both a cultivated groundcover and an escaped woodland invasive, forming a dense mat capable of smothering garden perennials and entire mature trees alike.
Japanese Wisteria
Japanese wisteria closely resembles its Chinese relative in aggressive, twining growth and showy purple flower clusters, distinguished by vines that twine in the opposite direction around a support. Both species pose the same girdling threat to mature host trees once established.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, forming dense canopies over native trees in forests adjacent to older ornamental plantings.
Multiflora Rose
Multiflora rose produces arching, thorny canes lined with clusters of small white flowers, forming dense, nearly impassable thickets wherever it’s left unmanaged. A single mature shrub can produce close to 500,000 seeds in a year, widely dispersed by birds through fall and winter.
It grows throughout pastures and fence rows across much of Georgia, despite once being recommended for erosion control and living fences.
Japanese Knotweed
Japanese knotweed produces hollow, bamboo-like stems that can push through cracks in pavement and foundations as a colony expands, spreading through an extensive underground rhizome network. Even a small fragment of rhizome left in the soil can regenerate an entirely new colony the following season.
It grows in scattered infestations in parts of north Georgia, particularly along disturbed urban lots and waterways.
Callery Pear
Callery pear, widely sold under ornamental cultivar names including Bradford pear, produces abundant white spring flowers followed by small, hard fruit that birds readily eat and disperse into surrounding natural areas. Its thorny, fast-growing wild seedlings form dense thickets in old fields, a genuinely different plant than the tidy ornamental sold at nurseries.
It’s an increasingly documented concern throughout Georgia, prompting several other states to begin restricting its sale entirely.
Chinese Tallow Tree
Chinese tallow tree, sometimes called the popcorn tree for its waxy white seeds, was introduced first as a seed oil crop before spreading further as a popular ornamental for its colorful fall foliage. Birds eat its seeds and disperse them widely, allowing the tree to colonize a broad range of disturbed habitat.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, particularly along the coastal plain, capable of converting open ground into dense tallow forest within about a decade.
Chinaberry
Chinaberry produces fragrant, lavender flower clusters each spring followed by round, yellow-green berries that persist on bare branches well into winter. Those berries are toxic to humans and many animals if eaten in quantity, though birds appear largely unaffected and help spread the seeds widely.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, particularly common in disturbed areas, fence rows, and old homestead sites.
Oriental Bittersweet
Oriental bittersweet produces a woody, twining vine capable of climbing 60 feet or more into a tree canopy, eventually girdling and killing its host through a combination of constriction and accumulated weight. Its bright orange-yellow seed capsules split open in fall to reveal striking red seeds, a display that’s ironically helped spread the vine further since it remains popular for autumn wreaths.
It grows throughout forest edges and disturbed woodland across north Georgia, increasingly displacing the considerably less aggressive American bittersweet native to the same region.
Golden Bamboo
Golden bamboo produces tall, hollow, woody canes that spread aggressively through underground rhizomes, capable of forming a dense grove that expands well beyond any originally planted boundary. Its extensive root system makes it exceptionally difficult to fully remove once established.
It grows in scattered locations throughout Georgia, commonly escaping from ornamental plantings into surrounding yards and forest edges.
Winged Burning Bush
Winged burning bush, prized for its intensely saturated red fall foliage, produces distinctive corky, wing-like ridges along its stems that make it identifiable even without leaves. Several states have restricted its sale given its documented tendency to escape cultivation into surrounding woodland.
It grows in scattered naturalized populations throughout parts of Georgia, spreading via bird-dispersed seed into forest understories.
Nandina
Nandina, also called heavenly bamboo, produces evergreen, finely divided foliage and bright red berries on a shrub whose berries contain compounds linked to fatal cyanide poisoning in cedar waxwings and other birds that feed on them in quantity. Its evergreen structure and colorful berries have kept it popular in Southern landscaping despite documented invasive spread.
It grows in scattered naturalized populations throughout Georgia, spreading via bird-dispersed seed from ornamental plantings into surrounding woodland edges.
Purple Loosestrife
Purple loosestrife produces tall spikes of vivid magenta-purple flowers each summer, a display so attractive that it was originally introduced to gardens before its aggressive wetland behavior became apparent. A single mature plant can produce well over a million seeds in a season.
It grows in scattered wetland locations throughout Georgia, forming dense monocultures that crowd out the native plants waterfowl depend on.
Common Buckthorn
Common buckthorn leafs out earlier in spring and holds its leaves later into fall than most native trees, giving it a considerable competitive advantage over the forest species it displaces. Its small, dark berries have a noticeable laxative effect on the birds that eat them, which paradoxically helps disperse its seeds.
It grows in scattered woodland locations across parts of north Georgia, forming dense understory thickets that shade out native tree seedlings.
Silverthorn
Silverthorn produces small, fragrant, silvery-white flowers in fall, an evergreen shrub whose dense, spiny growth made it a popular privacy hedge before its invasive spread became apparent. Its silvery, scaled foliage remains attractive year-round, part of why it remains widely sold despite documented invasive behavior.
It grows throughout much of Georgia, forming dense thickets along forest edges and disturbed ground that crowd out native understory shrubs.
Porcelain Berry
Porcelain berry produces small, inconspicuous greenish-white flower clusters followed by strikingly colored blue, purple, and turquoise berries on an aggressively twining vine. Its vigorous growth can smother shrubs and small trees within just a few growing seasons.
It grows throughout parts of Georgia, particularly along forest edges and disturbed ground, forming dense tangles that block light from the native vegetation beneath it.
Air Potato
Air potato produces heart-shaped leaves on a vigorously twining vine capable of growing several inches in a single day, reproducing primarily through hundreds of small, potato-like bulbils that drop and sprout wherever they land. Its rapid growth can smother entire tree canopies within a single growing season.
It grows throughout south Georgia, spreading readily via its bulbils into surrounding forest edges and disturbed ground.
Mile-a-Minute Vine
Mile-a-minute vine produces small clusters of tiny white flowers followed by distinctive metallic blue berries on a trailing, barbed vine capable of growing several inches per day. Its seeds can remain dormant in the soil for up to 6 years, and its recurved, barb-covered stems make it genuinely uncomfortable to pull by hand.
It grows in scattered locations in north Georgia, favoring moist soil and full sun along forest edges, wetlands, and streambanks.
Conclusion
Invasive plants in Georgia can spread across forests, wetlands, fields, roadsides, gardens, and other habitats. They may compete with native vegetation for sunlight, water, nutrients, and space, while some species can also change the structure of natural plant communities.
Learning to recognize invasive plants is an important part of managing them. Early detection, regular monitoring, and appropriate control methods can help limit their spread and reduce the chance of new populations becoming firmly established.
Protecting Georgia’s native plants requires continued attention from homeowners, gardeners, land managers, and local communities. Choosing non-invasive plants, preventing the movement of seeds and plant material, and managing existing infestations can help support healthy and diverse ecosystems throughout the state.