Invasive plants regulated in North Dakota (11 species, cited)

Invasive plants regulated in North Dakota

North Dakota lists 11 plants as noxious weeds under N.D. Admin. Code 7-06-01-02. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. North Dakota'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. 10 of the 11 plants below carry both: North Dakota names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 1 is regulated by North Dakota 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	North Dakota’s determination
Absinthium	Artemisia absinthium	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Absinthium as a noxious weed.
Butter and Eggs	Linaria vulgaris	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Butter and Eggs as a noxious weed.
Canada Thistle	Cirsium arvense	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Canada Thistle as a noxious weed.
Dalmatian Toadflax	Linaria dalmatica	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Dalmatian Toadflax as a noxious weed.
Diffuse Knapweed	Centaurea diffusa	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Diffuse Knapweed as a noxious weed.
European Wand Loosestrife	Lythrum virgatum	Listed	North Dakota lists European Wand Loosestrife as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Showy Milkweed, American Black Elderberry, Sawtooth Sunflower
Gypsyflower	Cynoglossum officinale	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Gypsyflower as a noxious weed.
Leafy Spurge	Euphorbia esula	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Leafy Spurge as a noxious weed.
Nodding Plumeless Thistle	Carduus nutans	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Nodding Plumeless Thistle as a noxious weed.
Purple Loosestrife	Lythrum salicaria	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Purple Loosestrife as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Showy Milkweed, American Black Elderberry, Sawtooth Sunflower
Spotted Knapweed	Centaurea stoebe	Listed Invasive	North Dakota lists Spotted Knapweed as a noxious weed.

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. North Dakota 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 North Dakota’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

North Dakota listings: N.D. Admin. Code 7-06-01-02. 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 North Dakota’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 North Dakota

Plants that two or more states bordering North Dakota regulate, and North Dakota 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.

Common Reed Phragmites australis regulated in Minnesota, Montana
Japanese Knotweed Polygonum cuspidatum regulated in Minnesota, Montana
Lenspod Whitetop Cardaria chalepensis regulated in Montana, South Dakota
Saltcedar Tamarix ramosissima regulated in Minnesota, South Dakota
Tansy Tanacetum vulgare regulated in Minnesota, Montana
Yellow Star-Thistle Centaurea solstitialis regulated in Minnesota, Montana

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in North Dakota?

North Dakota'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. 11 plants are named under N.D. Admin. Code 7-06-01-02. 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 North Dakota?

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

No. This page reproduces what North Dakota 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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