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

Invasive plants regulated in West Virginia

West Virginia lists 14 plants as noxious weeds under W. Va. Code R. 61-14A-5. The table below reproduces that list in full, showing each plant's status in the state's own words. West Virginia'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. 13 of the 14 plants below carry both: West Virginia names them in statute and GRIIS lists them as invasive in the United States. The other 1 is regulated by West Virginia 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 West Virginia’s determination
Asiatic Tearthumb Polygonum perfoliatum Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Asiatic Tearthumb as a noxious weed.
Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellata Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Autumn Olive as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Chokecherry, Red-Barked Dogwood, Redosier Dogwood
Curly Plumeless Thistle Carduus crispus Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Curly Plumeless Thistle as a noxious weed.
Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Japanese Barberry as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Bushy St. Johnswort, New York Ironweed
Japanese Knotweed Polygonum cuspidatum Listed West Virginia lists Japanese Knotweed as a noxious weed.
Johnsongrass Sorghum halepense Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Johnsongrass as a noxious weed.
Morrow's Honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Morrow's Honeysuckle as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Bushy St. Johnswort, New York Ironweed
Nepalese Browntop Microstegium vimineum Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Nepalese Browntop as a noxious weed.
Nodding Plumeless Thistle Carduus nutans Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Nodding Plumeless Thistle as a noxious weed.
Poison Hemlock Conium maculatum Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Poison Hemlock as a noxious weed.
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Purple Loosestrife as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Spiny Plumeless Thistle Carduus acanthoides Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Spiny Plumeless Thistle as a noxious weed.
Tatarian Honeysuckle Lonicera tatarica Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Tatarian Honeysuckle as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Crimsoneyed Rosemallow, Hairy Lespedeza, American Black Elderberry
Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima Listed Invasive West Virginia lists Tree of Heaven as a noxious weed.Plant instead: Table Mountain Pine, Shingle Oak, Sweet Birch

What the tags mean

Prohibited Restricted Listed

A legal status. West Virginia 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 West Virginia’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

West Virginia listings
W. Va. Code R. 61-14A-5. 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 West Virginia’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 West Virginia

Plants that two or more states bordering West Virginia regulate, and West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

West Virginia'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. 14 plants are named under W. Va. Code R. 61-14A-5. 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 West Virginia?

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

No. This page reproduces what West Virginia 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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