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

Invasive plants regulated in Iowa

Iowa lists 23 plants as noxious weeds under Iowa Code 317.1A. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. Iowa'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].

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5 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 Iowa 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. 18 of the 23 plants below carry both: Iowa names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 5 are regulated by Iowa 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 Iowa’s determination
Bull Thistle Cirsium vulgare Listed Invasive Iowa lists Bull Thistle under “Primary noxious weed.”
Canada Thistle Cirsium arvense Listed Invasive Iowa lists Canada Thistle under “Primary noxious weed.”
Carelessweed US native Amaranthus palmeri Listed Iowa lists Carelessweed under “Primary noxious weed.”
Carolina Horsenettle US native Solanum carolinense Listed Iowa lists Carolina Horsenettle under “Primary noxious weed.”
Carrot Daucus carota Listed Invasive Iowa lists Carrot under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Charlock Mustard Sinapis arvensis Listed Invasive Iowa lists Charlock Mustard under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Common Sheep Sorrel Rumex acetosella Listed Invasive Iowa lists Common Sheep Sorrel under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Curly Dock Rumex crispus Listed Invasive Iowa lists Curly Dock under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Field Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis Listed Invasive Iowa lists Field Bindweed under “Primary noxious weed.”
Field Sowthistle Sonchus arvensis Listed Invasive Iowa lists Field Sowthistle under “Primary noxious weed.”
Hardheads Acroptilon repens Listed Invasive Iowa lists Hardheads under “Primary noxious weed.”
Leafy Spurge Euphorbia esula Listed Invasive Iowa lists Leafy Spurge under “Primary noxious weed.”
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora Listed Invasive Iowa lists Multiflora Rose under “Secondary noxious weed.”Plant instead: American Black Elderberry, Common Cowparsnip, Prairie Blazing Star
Narrowleaf Plantain Plantago lanceolata Listed Invasive Iowa lists Narrowleaf Plantain under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Pale Dock US native Rumex altissimus Listed Iowa lists Pale Dock under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Poison Hemlock Conium maculatum Listed Invasive Iowa lists Poison Hemlock under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Puncturevine Tribulus terrestris Listed Invasive Iowa lists Puncturevine under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Quackgrass Elymus repens Listed Invasive Iowa lists Quackgrass under “Primary noxious weed.”
Rough Cocklebur US native Xanthium strumarium Listed Iowa lists Rough Cocklebur under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Sorghum Sorghum bicolor Listed Invasive Iowa lists Sorghum under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Sunflower US native Helianthus annuus Listed Iowa lists Sunflower under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Velvetleaf Abutilon theophrasti Listed Invasive Iowa lists Velvetleaf under “Secondary noxious weed.”
Whitetop Cardaria draba Listed Invasive Iowa lists Whitetop under “Primary noxious weed.”

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. Iowa 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 Iowa’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

Iowa listings
Iowa Code 317.1A. 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 Iowa’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 Iowa

Plants that two or more states bordering Iowa regulate, and Iowa 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 Iowa?

Iowa'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. 23 plants are named under Iowa Code 317.1A. 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 Iowa?

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

No. This page reproduces what Iowa 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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Compiled from peer-reviewed research, USDA documentation,
and direct scientific observation across the 48 contiguous states.

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