Ezina · A field manual for plant care · Contiguous U.S.Vol. I · Ed. 2027 · Proof copy

Invasive plants regulated in Illinois

Illinois regulates 33 invasive plants under 17 Ill. Adm. Code 1100.30 (Illinois Exotic Weed Act, 525 ILCS 10). The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. Illinois's list is a trade restriction, which governs what may be sold, propagated, or moved within the state.

Compiled from the rule itself, retrieved August 17, 2026. Law changes; if you spot a listing we have wrong or stale, tell us at [email protected].

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1 of these listings is phasing in. The species is named in the rule, but the sale ban has not taken effect yet, so Illinois nurseries may still legally sell it today. The dates are shown in the table.

Regulated and invasive are two different findings, and this page shows them separately. 28 of the 33 plants below carry both: Illinois names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 5 are regulated by Illinois 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 Illinois’s determination
Amur Corktree Phellodendron amurense Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Amur Corktree as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Table Mountain Pine, Shingle Oak, Western Catalpa
Amur Honeysuckle Lonicera maackii Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Amur Honeysuckle as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Hercules's Club, Bog Birch, Rough-Leaf Dogwood
Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellata Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Autumn Olive as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Chokecherry, Red-Barked Dogwood, Redosier Dogwood
Bohemian Knotweed Polygonum x bohemicum Prohibited Illinois lists Bohemian Knotweed as an exotic weed.
Callery Pear Pyrus calleryana Prohibited Invasive phasing in Illinois lists Callery Pear as an exotic weed.propagation January 1, 2028 · sale January 1, 2028Plant instead: Western Catalpa, Paper Birch, Cockspur Hawthorn
Chinese Buckthorn Rhamnus utilis Prohibited Illinois lists Chinese Buckthorn as an exotic weed.
Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Common Buckthorn as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Hercules's Club, Bog Birch, Rough-Leaf Dogwood
Dahurian Buckthorn Rhamnus davurica Prohibited Illinois lists Dahurian Buckthorn as an exotic weed.
European Swallow-Wort Cynanchum rossicum Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists European Swallow-Wort as an exotic weed.
Fig Buttercup Ranunculus ficaria Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Fig Buttercup as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Old Man's Whiskers, Common Selfheal, Meadow Evening Primrose
Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Garlic Mustard as an exotic weed.
Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Giant Hogweed as an exotic weed.
Giant Knotweed Polygonum sachalinense Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Giant Knotweed as an exotic weed.
Glossy Buckthorn Frangula alnus Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Glossy Buckthorn as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Rough-Leaf Dogwood, Common Witch Hazel, Speckled Alder
Japanese Buckthorn Rhamnus japonica Prohibited Illinois lists Japanese Buckthorn as an exotic weed.
Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Japanese Honeysuckle as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Maryland Senna, Roundleaf Goldenrod
Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica (potentially invasive weed) Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Japanese Knotweed as an exotic weed.
Kudzu Pueraria montana Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Kudzu as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Hercules's Club, Bog Birch, American Plum
Leafy Spurge Euphorbia esula Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Leafy Spurge as an exotic weed.
Louise's Swallow-Wort Cynanchum louiseae Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Louise's Swallow-Wort as an exotic weed.
Morrow's Honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Morrow's Honeysuckle as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Harvestlice, Streambank Wild Hollyhock
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Multiflora Rose as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Nepalese Browntop Microstegium vimineum Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Nepalese Browntop as an exotic weed.
Oriental Bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Oriental Bittersweet as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Rough-Leaf Dogwood, Common Witch Hazel, Stiff Dogwood
Poison Hemlock Conium maculatum Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Poison Hemlock as an exotic weed.
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Purple Loosestrife as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Showy Milkweed, Hairy Lespedeza
Russian Olive Elaeagnus angustifolia Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Russian Olive as an exotic weed.Plant instead: American Plum, Climbing Rose, Prairie Crab Apple
Sericea Lespedeza Lespedeza cuneata Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Sericea Lespedeza as an exotic weed.
Sharp-Tooth Buckthorn Rhamnus arguta Prohibited Illinois lists Sharp-Tooth Buckthorn as an exotic weed.
Silverberry Elaeagnus pungens Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Silverberry as an exotic weed.
Sweet Breath of Spring Lonicera fragrantissima Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Sweet Breath of Spring as an exotic weed.
Tatarian Honeysuckle Lonicera tatarica Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Tatarian Honeysuckle as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima Prohibited Invasive Illinois lists Tree of Heaven as an exotic weed.Plant instead: Table Mountain Pine, Shingle Oak, Western Catalpa

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. Illinois 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 Illinois’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

Illinois listings
17 Ill. Adm. Code 1100.30 (Illinois Exotic Weed Act, 525 ILCS 10). 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 Illinois’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 Illinois

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

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in Illinois?

33 plants are regulated under 17 Ill. Adm. Code 1100.30 (Illinois Exotic Weed Act, 525 ILCS 10). Plants marked Prohibited may not be sold, propagated, or moved within Illinois. Plants marked Restricted carry narrower limits set by the rule.

Is my plant invasive in Illinois?

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

No. This page reproduces what Illinois 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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