Invasive plants regulated in Mississippi (10 species, cited)

Invasive plants regulated in Mississippi

Mississippi lists 10 plants as noxious weeds under Miss. Admin. Code Title 2, Pt. 1, Subpt. 3, Ch. 01, R. 136.01. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. Mississippi'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].

Regulated and invasive are two different findings, and this page shows them separately. 9 of the 10 plants below carry both: Mississippi names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 1 is regulated by Mississippi 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	Mississippi’s determination
Blood Grass	Imperata cylindrica	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Blood Grass as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Kentucky Bluegrass, Manyspike Flatsedge, Blunt Spikerush
Brazilian Satintail	Imperata brasiliensis	Prohibited	Mississippi lists Brazilian Satintail as a noxious weed.
Chinese Tallow Tree	Triadica sebifera (Sapium sebiferum)	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Chinese Tallow Tree as a noxious weed.
Itchgrass	Rottboellia cochinchinensis	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Itchgrass as a noxious weed.
Jio	Commelina benghalensis	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Jio as a noxious weed.
Kariba-Weed	Salvinia molesta	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Kariba-Weed as a noxious weed.
Kudzu	Pueraria montana	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Kudzu as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Hercules's Club, American Plum, Climbing Rose
Torpedo Grass	Panicum repens	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Torpedo Grass as a noxious weed.
Tropical Soda Apple	Solanum viarum	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Tropical Soda Apple as a noxious weed.
Waterthyme	Hydrilla verticillata	Prohibited Invasive	Mississippi lists Waterthyme as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Yellow Fumewort, Poverty Rush, Autumn Bluegrass

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. Mississippi 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 Mississippi’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

Mississippi listings: Miss. Admin. Code Title 2, Pt. 1, Subpt. 3, Ch. 01, R. 136.01. 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 Mississippi’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 Mississippi

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

Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria regulated in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee
Anchored Water Hyacinth Eichhornia azurea regulated in Arkansas, Louisiana
Balloon Vine Cardiospermum halicacabum regulated in Alabama, Arkansas
Brazilian Waterweed Egeria densa regulated in Alabama, Louisiana
Brittle Waternymph Najas minor regulated in Alabama, Louisiana
Common Water Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes regulated in Alabama, Arkansas
Eurasian Watermilfoil Myriophyllum spicatum regulated in Alabama, Louisiana
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora regulated in Alabama, Tennessee
Water Chestnut Trapa natans regulated in Alabama, Louisiana
Water Lettuce Pistia stratiotes regulated in Alabama, Louisiana

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in Mississippi?

Mississippi'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. 10 plants are named under Miss. Admin. Code Title 2, Pt. 1, Subpt. 3, Ch. 01, R. 136.01. 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 Mississippi?

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

No. This page reproduces what Mississippi 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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