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

Invasive plants regulated in South Dakota

South Dakota lists 7 plants as noxious weeds under ARSD 12:62:03:01.06. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. South 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].

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Regulated and invasive are two different findings, and this page shows them separately. 6 of the 7 plants below carry both: South Dakota names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 1 is regulated by South 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 South Dakota’s determination
Absinthium Artemisia absinthium Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Absinthium as a statewide noxious weed.
Canada Thistle Cirsium arvense Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Canada Thistle as a statewide noxious weed.
Field Sowthistle Sonchus arvensis Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Field Sowthistle as a statewide noxious weed.
Leafy Spurge Euphorbia esula Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Leafy Spurge as a statewide noxious weed.
Lenspod Whitetop Cardaria chalepensis Listed South Dakota lists Lenspod Whitetop as a statewide noxious weed.
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Purple Loosestrife as a statewide noxious weed.Plant instead: Showy Milkweed, American Black Elderberry, Sawtooth Sunflower
Saltcedar Tamarix ramosissima Listed Invasive South Dakota lists Saltcedar as a statewide noxious weed.

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. South 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 South 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

South Dakota listings
ARSD 12:62:03:01.06. 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 South 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 South Dakota

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

Questions

What plants are illegal to sell in South Dakota?

South 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. 7 plants are named under ARSD 12:62:03:01.06. 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 South Dakota?

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

No. This page reproduces what South 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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