Ohio’s Department of Agriculture has passed a law aimed at keeping invasive species out of Ohio. A list of illegal species now exists, and officials will be inspecting garden stores and nurseries to make sure nobody is selling these forbidden flora and fauna.
An article in the Columbus Dispatch goes into detail about the origins of the law and the ways it will be enforced.
To prevent you from getting into trouble, we want to publish the full list, so that you know exactly what to avoid. Tree removal companies in Cincinnati and throughout the state will be on the lookout as well.
Here are the 38 species which are no longer allowed to be sold or distributed in Ohio:
- Tree-of-heaven, or “Ailanthus altissima”
- Garlic mustard, or “Alliaria petiolate”
- Common barberry, or “berberis vulgaris”
- Flowering rush, or “butomus umbellatus”
- Oriental bittersweet, or “celastrus orbiculatus”
- Spotted knapweed, or “centaurea stoebe”
- Common teasel, or “dipsacus fullonum”
- Cutleaf teasel, or “dipsacus laciniatus”
- Brazilian Elodea, or “Egeria densa”
- Russian olive, or “elaeagnus angustifolia”
- Autumn olive, or “elaeagnus umbellate”
- Hairy willow herb, or “epilobium hirsutum”
- Glossy buckthorn, or “frangula alnus”
- Giant hogweed, or “heracleum mantegazzianum” (made famous in a 1971 Genesis song)
- Dame’s rocket, or “hesperies matronlis”
- Hydrilla, or “hydrilla verticillate”
- European frog-bit, or “hydrocharis morsus-ranae”
- Japanese honeysuckle, or “lonicera japonica”
- Amur honeysuckle, or “lonicera maackii”
- Morrow’s honeysuckle, or “lonicera morrowii”
- Tatarian honeysuckle, or “lonicera tatarica”
- Purple loosestrife, or “lythrum salicaria”
- European wand loosestrife, or “lythrum virgatum”
- Japanese stiltgrass, or “microstegium vimineum”
- Parrotfeather, or “myriophyllum aquaticum”
- Eurasian water-millfoil, or “myriophyllum spicatum”
- Yellow floating heart, or “nymphoides peltate”
- Common reed, or “phragmites Australia”
- Curly-leaved pondweed, or “potamogeton crispus”
- Kudzu, or “pueraria montana”
- Callery pear, or “pyrus calleryana”
- Fig buttercup / lesser celandine, or “ranunculus ficaria”
- European buckthorn, or “Rhamnus cathartica”
- Multiflora rose, or “rosa multiflora”
- Water chestnut, or “trapa natans”
- Narrow-leaves cattail, or “typha angustifolia”
- Hybrid cattail, or “typha x glauca”
- Black dog-strangling vine, or “vincetoxicum nigrum”
Stay safe, keep these invaders out of the Buckeye state, and remain law-abiding!
