Invasive plants regulated in Arkansas (27 species, cited)

Invasive plants regulated in Arkansas

Arkansas lists 27 plants as noxious weeds under 2 CAR 50-101(d) (Circular 11). The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. Arkansas's list is an agricultural noxious-weed law, which governs control and spread on farmland and rights of way rather than what a nursery may sell.

Compiled from the rule itself, retrieved July 20, 2026. Law changes; if you spot a listing we have wrong or stale, tell us at [email protected].

6 of these plants are native to part of the United States, marked US native below. Nativity is regional. Black locust is native to the Appalachians and regulated in New England; Palmer amaranth is native to the Southwest and listed as an agricultural weed in the Corn Belt. A listing tells you what Arkansas regulates, not where a plant belongs. The county checker answers the second question.

Regulated and invasive are two different findings, and this page shows them separately. 19 of the 27 plants below carry both: Arkansas names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 8 are regulated by Arkansas without appearing on that register. The reverse is far more common still: most plants GRIIS calls invasive are named in no state’s statute at all and are sold freely, so an absent chip is never a clean bill of health.

Plant	Scientific name	Status	Arkansas’s determination
Anchored Water Hyacinth	Eichhornia azurea	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Anchored Water Hyacinth as a noxious weed.
Balloon Vine	Cardiospermum halicacabum	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Balloon Vine as a noxious weed.
Barnyardgrass	Echinochloa crus-galli	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Barnyardgrass as a noxious weed.
Bermuda Grass	Cynodon dactylon	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Bermuda Grass as a noxious weed.
Bigpod Sesbania US native	Sesbania herbacea	Listed	Arkansas lists Bigpod Sesbania as a noxious weed.
Blood Grass	Imperata cylindrica	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Blood Grass as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Lopsided Rush, Kentucky Bluegrass, Manyspike Flatsedge
Carolina Horsenettle US native	Solanum carolinense	Listed	Arkansas lists Carolina Horsenettle as a noxious weed.
Common Corncockle	Agrostemma githago	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Common Corncockle as a noxious weed.
Common Water Hyacinth	Eichhornia crassipes	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Common Water Hyacinth as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Nodding Lady's Tresses, Valley Redstem, Pale Purple Coneflower
Darnel Ryegrass	Lolium temulentum	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Darnel Ryegrass as a noxious weed.
Field Bindweed	Convolvulus arvensis	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Field Bindweed as a noxious weed.
Hedge False Bindweed	Calystegia sepium	Listed	Arkansas lists Hedge False Bindweed as a noxious weed.
Indian Jointvetch US native	Aeschynomene indica	Listed	Arkansas lists Indian Jointvetch as a noxious weed.
Itchgrass	Rottboellia cochinchinensis	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Itchgrass as a noxious weed.
Japanese Bristlegrass	Setaria faberi	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Japanese Bristlegrass as a noxious weed.
Johnsongrass	Sorghum halepense	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Johnsongrass as a noxious weed.
Largebracted Plantain US native	Plantago aristata	Listed	Arkansas lists Largebracted Plantain as a noxious weed.
Lilacbell	Ipomoea turbinata	Listed	Arkansas lists Lilacbell as a noxious weed.
Narrowleaf Plantain	Plantago lanceolata	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Narrowleaf Plantain as a noxious weed.
Nutgrass	Cyperus rotundus	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Nutgrass as a noxious weed.
Purple Loosestrife	Lythrum salicaria	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Purple Loosestrife as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry, Missouri Ironweed
Rice	Oryza sativa	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Rice as a noxious weed.
Rye Brome	Bromus secalinus	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Rye Brome as a noxious weed.
Serrated Tussock	Nassella trichotoma	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Serrated Tussock as a noxious weed.
Silverleaf Nightshade US native	Solanum elaeagnifolium	Listed	Arkansas lists Silverleaf Nightshade as a noxious weed.
Texas Blueweed US native	Helianthus ciliaris	Listed	Arkansas lists Texas Blueweed as a noxious weed.
Tropical Soda Apple	Solanum viarum	Listed Invasive	Arkansas lists Tropical Soda Apple as a noxious weed.

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. Arkansas names the plant in statute. Under a nursery rule that means it may not be sold, propagated, or moved; under an agricultural weed law it means landowners must control it. The cited rule says which, in Arkansas’s own words, in the last column.

Invasive

An ecological finding, and a different question from the law. GRIIS — the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species — lists the plant as invasive in the United States. Most invasive plants carry no state listing at all and are sold freely, so a plant without this tag is not thereby safe, and a plant without a legal chip is not thereby harmless.

Where this comes from

Arkansas listings: 2 CAR 50-101(d) (Circular 11). Read the rule.
Invasive status: GRIIS, the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species, via GBIF. A scientific register with no legal force; it is cited separately from the statute above because the two disagree far more often than they agree.
Status wording: Each determination is written as a sentence, with Arkansas’s own term for the plant reproduced verbatim inside it. The Prohibited / Restricted / Listed chips are Ezina’s normalisation across 42 states and are not the legal term.
Nativity: USDA PLANTS county distribution layer, surfaced through the county checker.

Regulated next door, but not in Arkansas

Plants that two or more states bordering Arkansas regulate, and Arkansas does not. A listing is a legal act rather than an ecological one, so a plant can be a documented problem here and still be sold here.

Canada Thistle Cirsium arvense regulated in Missouri, Oklahoma
Jio Commelina benghalensis regulated in Mississippi, Tennessee
Kariba-Weed Salvinia molesta regulated in Mississippi, Tennessee
Kudzu Pueraria montana regulated in Mississippi, Missouri
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora regulated in Missouri, Tennessee
Nodding Plumeless Thistle Carduus nutans regulated in Missouri, Oklahoma
Scotch Cottonthistle Onopordum acanthium regulated in Missouri, Oklahoma
Torpedo Grass Panicum repens regulated in Louisiana, Mississippi
Waterthyme Hydrilla verticillata regulated in Louisiana, Mississippi

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in Arkansas?

Arkansas's list is an agricultural noxious-weed law, which governs control and spread on farmland and rights of way rather than what a nursery may sell. 27 plants are named under 2 CAR 50-101(d) (Circular 11). A noxious-weed listing does not automatically ban nursery sale, so check the rule itself before assuming a plant cannot be bought or sold.

Is my plant invasive in Arkansas?

Search the table on this page, or enter the plant's name in Ezina's checker to get its Arkansas status alongside whether USDA records it as native to your specific county. Every answer links the record it came from.

Does a plant missing from this list mean it is safe to plant in Arkansas?

No. This page reproduces what Arkansas regulates, and a state list is a legal instrument rather than an ecological verdict. Plenty of plants spread aggressively without ever being listed, and states add species years after the problem is documented.

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