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

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
Paederia foetida	skunk-vine
Reynoutria japonica	Japanese knotweed
Salvinia molesta	giant salvinia