Invasive plants regulated in Delaware (36 species, cited)

Invasive plants regulated in Delaware

Delaware regulates 36 invasive plants under 3 Del. Admin. Code 806 §3.0. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. Delaware's list is a trade restriction, which governs what may be sold, propagated, or moved within the state.

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].

1 of these plant is 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 Delaware 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. 32 of the 36 plants below carry both: Delaware names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 4 are regulated by Delaware 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	Delaware’s determination
Amur Honeysuckle	Lonicera maackii	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Amur Honeysuckle under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Hercules's Club, Common Witch Hazel, Canadian Serviceberry
Asiatic Tearthumb	Polygonum perfoliatum	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Asiatic Tearthumb under “Invasive Plant List.”
Autumn Olive	Elaeagnus umbellata	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Autumn Olive under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Red-Barked Dogwood, Redosier Dogwood, Red Osier Dogwood
Blueberry Creeper	Ampelopsis brevipedunculata	Prohibited	Delaware lists Blueberry Creeper under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Common Witch Hazel, Canadian Serviceberry, Summersweet
Burning Bush	Euonymus alatus	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Burning Bush under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: New York Ironweed, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Callery Pear	Pyrus calleryana	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Callery Pear under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Cockspur Hawthorn, Washington Hawthorn, Sweet Bay Magnolia
Chinese Wisteria	Wisteria sinensis	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Chinese Wisteria under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Hercules's Club, American Plum, Red-Barked Dogwood
Common Reed	Phragmites australis	Prohibited	Delaware lists Common Reed under “Invasive Plant List.”
Common Water Hyacinth	Eichhornia crassipes	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Common Water Hyacinth under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Nodding Lady's Tresses, Valley Redstem, Orange Milkweed
Daylily	Hemerocallis fulva	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Daylily under “Invasive Plant List.”
English Ivy	Hedera helix	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists English Ivy under “Invasive Plant List.”
Fig Buttercup	Ranunculus ficaria	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Fig Buttercup under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Common Selfheal, Northern St. Johnswort, Buckbean
Floating Primrose-Willow US native	Ludwigia peploides subsp. glabrescens	Prohibited	Delaware lists Floating Primrose-Willow under “Invasive Plant List.”
Garlic Mustard	Alliaria petiolata	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Garlic Mustard under “Invasive Plant List.”
Japanese Barberry	Berberis thunbergii	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Japanese Barberry under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Coast Leucothoe, Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Bushy St. Johnswort
Japanese Honeysuckle	Lonicera japonica	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Japanese Honeysuckle under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Maryland Senna, Pine Barren Goldenrod
Japanese Knotweed	Fallopia japonica (potentially invasive weed)	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Japanese Knotweed under “Invasive Plant List.”
Japanese Spurge	Pachysandra terminalis	Prohibited	Delaware lists Japanese Spurge under “Invasive Plant List.”
Morrow's Honeysuckle	Lonicera morrowii	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Morrow's Honeysuckle under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Coast Leucothoe, Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Bushy St. Johnswort
Multiflora Rose	Rosa multiflora	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Multiflora Rose under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Nepalese Browntop	Microstegium vimineum	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Nepalese Browntop under “Invasive Plant List.”
Norway Maple	Acer platanoides	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Norway Maple under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Atlantic White Cedar, Eastern Redcedar, Hophornbeam
Oriental Bittersweet	Celastrus orbiculatus	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Oriental Bittersweet under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Common Witch Hazel, Canadian Serviceberry, Summersweet
Parrot Feather Watermilfoil	Myriophyllum aquaticum	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Parrot Feather Watermilfoil under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Lopsided Rush, Kentucky Bluegrass, Nodding Lady's Tresses
Periwinkle	Vinca minor	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Periwinkle under “Invasive Plant List.”
Purple Loosestrife	Lythrum salicaria	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Purple Loosestrife under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Spotted Knapweed	Centaurea stoebe subsp. micranthos	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Spotted Knapweed under “Invasive Plant List.”
Sweet Autumn Clematis	Clematis terniflora	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Sweet Autumn Clematis under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Hercules's Club, American Plum, Red-Barked Dogwood
Sweet Flag	Acorus calamus 'Variegatus'	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Sweet Flag under “Invasive Plant List.”
Tatarian Honeysuckle	Lonicera tatarica	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Tatarian Honeysuckle under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Tree of Heaven	Ailanthus altissima	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Tree of Heaven under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Shingle Oak, Sweet Birch, Post Oak
Wartremoving Herb	Murdannia keisak	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Wartremoving Herb under “Invasive Plant List.”
Waterthyme	Hydrilla verticillata	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Waterthyme under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Yellow Fumewort, Poverty Rush, Autumn Bluegrass
Wild Privet	Ligustrum vulgare	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Wild Privet under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Coast Leucothoe, Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Bushy St. Johnswort
Wine Raspberry	Rubus phoenicolasius	Prohibited Invasive	Delaware lists Wine Raspberry under “Invasive Plant List.”Plant instead: Black Raspberry, Carolina Rose, Purpleflowering Raspberry
Creeping Jenny	Lysimachia nummularia	Restricted Invasive	Delaware lists Creeping Jenny under “Plant Watch List.”

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. Delaware 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 Delaware’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

Delaware listings: 3 Del. Admin. Code 806 §3.0. 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 Delaware’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 Delaware

Plants that two or more states bordering Delaware regulate, and Delaware 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.

Japanese Angelica Tree Aralia elata regulated in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Border Privet Ligustrum obtusifolium regulated in Maryland, Pennsylvania
Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica regulated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Eurasian Watermilfoil Myriophyllum spicatum regulated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Japanese Hop Humulus japonicus regulated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Japanese Wisteria Wisteria floribunda regulated in Maryland, New Jersey
Water Chestnut Trapa natans regulated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in Delaware?

36 plants are regulated under 3 Del. Admin. Code 806 §3.0. Plants marked Prohibited may not be sold, propagated, or moved within Delaware. Plants marked Restricted carry narrower limits set by the rule.

Is my plant invasive in Delaware?

Search the table on this page, or enter the plant's name in Ezina's checker to get its Delaware 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 Delaware?

No. This page reproduces what Delaware 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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