Invasive Plants

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Invasive Plant Definition: Invasive species is defined as any species, including its seeds, spores or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to that ecosystem; and whose introduction does or is likely to cause environmental harm.

Political boundaries are not used when determining a species nativity. Instead, a species is defined as being exotic when it is not native to a particular ecosystem, making it possible to have a species that is native to parts of Georgia, but considered invasive in others. For this list, we will not include species that are native to any part of Georgia. Go Here for more information.

Plant List

Exotic plants that are a serious problem in Georgia natural areas by extensively invading native plant communities and displacing native species.

Scientific Name	Common Name	State Category	Region 1 Cat.	Region 2 Cat.	Region 3 Cat.	Region 4 Cat.	Listing Protocol
Ailanthus altissima	tree-of-heaven
Albizia julibrissin	mimosa
Alternanthera philoxeroides	alligatorweed
Dryopteris erythrosora	autumn fern
Eichhornia crassipes	common water hyacinth
Elaeagnus umbellata	autumn olive
Hedera helix	English ivy
Hydrilla verticillata	hydrilla
Lespedeza bicolor	shrubby lespedeza
Lespedeza cuneata	sericea lespedeza
Ligustrum sinense	Chinese privet
Lonicera japonica	Japanese honeysuckle
Lygodium japonicum	Japanese climbing fern
Melia azedarach	chinaberry
Microstegium vimineum	Japanese stiltgrass
Murdannia keisak	marsh dayflower
Paulownia tomentosa	princesstree
Pueraria montana var. lobata	kudzu
Rosa multiflora	multiflora rose
Triadica sebifera	Chinese tallowtree
Wisteria sinensis	Chinese Wisteria
Ardisia crenata	coral ardisia
Cinnamomum camphora	camphortree
Crotalaria lanceolata	lanceleaf crotalaria
Crotalaria pallida	smooth crotalaria
Crotalaria spectabilis	showy rattlebox
Cynodon dactylon	bermudagrass
Dioscorea polystachya	Chinese yam
Egeria densa	Brazilian waterweed
Elaeagnus pungens	thorny olive
Leucanthemum vulgare	oxeye daisy
Ligustrum lucidum	glossy privet
Lonicera maackii	Amur honeysuckle
Miscanthus sinensis	Chinese silvergrass
Myriophyllum aquaticum	parrotfeather
Nandina domestica	Nandina, sacred bamboo
Nasturtium officinale	watercress
Paspalum notatum	bahiagrass
Phyllostachys aurea	golden bamboo
Salvinia minima	waterfern/common salvinia
Salvinia molesta	giant salvinia
Sesbania punicea	red sesbania
Spiraea japonica	Japanese spiraea
Tamarix gallica	French tamarisk
Vinca major	big periwinkle
Vinca minor	common periwinkle
Vitex rotundifolia	beach vitex
Ajuga reptans	carpet bugle
Alternanthera sessilis	sessile joyweed
Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata	porcelain-berry
Anthoxanthum odoratum	sweet vernalgrass
Arundo donax	giant reed
Berberis thunbergii	Japanese barberry
Broussonetia papyrifera	paper-mulberry
Carduus nutans	musk thistle, nodding thistle
Centaurea cyanus	cornflower
Citrus trifoliata	trifoliate orange
Clematis terniflora	sweet autumn virginsbower
Colocasia esculenta	coco yam, wild taro
Daucus carota	Queen Anne's lace, wild carrot
Dioscorea alata	winged yam
Dioscorea bulbifera	air-potato
Eragrostis curvula	weeping lovegrass
Euonymus fortunei	winter creeper
Festuca arundinacea	tall fescue
Hemerocallis fulva	tawny daylily
Hibiscus syriacus	rose of Sharon
Lantana camara	largeleaf lantana
Lespedeza thunbergii	Thunberg lespedeza
Ligustrum japonicum	Japanese privet
Limnophila sessiliflora	limnophila
Liriope muscari	monkeygrass
Lonicera fragrantissima	sweet breath of spring
Mahonia bealei	leatherleaf mahonia
Marsilea minuta	dwarf waterclover
Melinis repens	natalgrass
Mentha x piperita	peppermint
Morus alba	white mulberry
Mosla dianthera	miniature beefsteakplant
Myriophyllum spicatum	Eurasian watermilfoil
Panicum repens	torpedograss
Paspalum urvillei	vaseygrass
Perilla frutescens	perilla mint/beefsteak plant
Persicaria maculosa	ladysthumb
Phragmites australis	common reed
Poa annua	annual bluegrass
Potamogeton crispus	curly leaf pondweed
Pyrus calleryana	Callery pear (Bradford pear)
Rottboellia cochinchinensis	itchgrass
Rubus armeniacus	Himalayan blackberry
Securigera varia	purple crown-vetch
Solanum viarum	tropical soda apple
Sorghum halepense	johnsongrass
Vernicia fordii	tungoil tree
Akebia quinata	chocolate vine
Allium vineale	wild garlic
Alysicarpus vaginalis	alyceclover
Artemisia vulgaris	mugwort
Bidens pilosa	hairy beggarticks
Bromus secalinus	rye brome
Bromus tectorum	cheatgrass, downy brome
Cirsium vulgare	bull thistle
Commelina benghalensis	Benghal dayflower
Cytisus scoparius	Scotch broom
Euonymus alatus	winged burning bush
Fatoua villosa	mulberryweed
Firmiana simplex	Chinese parasoltree
Ilex cornuta	Chinese holly
Ilex crenata	Japanese holly
Indigofera hirsuta	hairy indigo
Ipomoea coccinea	red morning-glory
Ipomoea purpurea	tall morning-glory
Jacquemontia tamnifolia	smallflower morningglory
Kummerowia stipulacea	Korean lespedeza
Kummerowia striata	Japanese clover
Liriope spicata	creeping liriope
Najas minor	brittleleaf naiad
Orobanche minor	small broomrape
Paspalum quadrifarium	tussock paspalum
Persicaria longiseta	Oriental lady's thumb
Pyracantha coccinea	scarlet firethorn
Quercus acutissima	sawtooth oak
Reynoutria sachalinensis	giant knotweed
Rosa laevigata	Cherokee rose
Rubus phoenicolasius	wine raspberry
Setaria faberi	giant foxtail
Setaria pumila	yellow foxtail
Setaria viridis var. viridis	green bristlegrass
Sonchus asper	spiny sowthistle
Sonchus oleraceus	annual sowthistle
Torilis arvensis	spreading hedgeparsley
Verbascum	common mullein
Verbena bonariensis	tall vervain
Verbena incompta	purpletop/Brazilian vervain
Wisteria floribunda	Japanese wisteria
Buddleja davidii	butterfly bush

Species of Concern

A species that is not yet found in great numbers in Georgia natural areas but is known to have caused significant damages in other states, and poses a significant risk to Georgia.

Scientific Name	Common Name
Alliaria petiolata	garlic mustard
Achyranthes japonica	Japanese chaff flower
Arthraxon hispidus	small carpetgrass
Celastrus orbiculatus	round leaf bittersweet
Imperata cylindrica	cogongrass
Lygodium microphyllum	old world climbing fern
Paederia foetida	skunk-vine
Reynoutria japonica	Japanese knotweed
Schinus terebinthifolia	Brazilian peppertree