Invasive Plant Guidelines
Plants are considered invasive for several reasons: a) they may overgrow or squeeze out native species; b) they may toxify the ground, poisoning beneficial plants, insects, and pollinators; c) they may be so aggressive that they are next-to-impossible to remove.
Some of these plants may be offered for sale in local nurseries. Reputable Indiana growers do not grow or sell these plants. However, large national nurseries buy plants from a variety of sources. What is invasive in one part of the country may not be invasive in another area. Also, these plants are occasionally mislabeled – or may have different names, depending on regions where they were grown. You help the success of Windridge’s greenspace, local nurseries, and Indiana beautification when you point out invasive species and request that nurseries stop selling them.
Code Key:
*Often included on lists that are recommended as food for wildlife, but their invasive tendencies ruin their valu,e and there are many other plants that are beneficial for wildlife without destroying the ecology.
** Euonymous encompasses over 130 species of shrubs, vines, and ornamental trees. Some can be easily controlled but others are very aggressive. Check with a knowledgeable nursery expert or horticulturist before planting. Once established, they can be very difficult to remove, e.g., they can pull the paint off wood and the mortar out of brick walls!
#The most destructive and difficult to eradicate. Should never be planted and wherever possible, should be removed. Aggressively.
? Possible name confusion: Different names regionally for the same plant; confusion over sub-categories within the same species; breeders rename plants for marketing purposes.
Flowering Plants
Bishop Weed (See Gout Weed or Snow on the Mountain)?
Canada Thistle (See Teasel)?
Cattail (Narrow-leaved)
Chameleon Plant#
Cypress Spurge
Common Tansy
Common Wormwood (or Mugwort)
Crown Vetch
Gout Weed (See Bishop Weed or Snow on the Mountain)?
Japanese Knotweed
Lemon Balm
Purple Loosestrife
Scottish Moss
Snow on the Mountain (See Bishop Weed or Gout Weed)?
Star of Bethlehem (ground cover)?
Sweet Annie Wormwood
Teasel (see Canada Thistle)?
Vinca Minor
Yellow Flag Iris
Grasses
Common Reed
Japanese Blood Grass
Maiden Grass (Japanese Silver)
Reed Canary Grass*
Ribbon Grass
Running Bamboo
Shrubs
Asian Bush Honeysuckle (all taxa)#
Buckthorn
Euonymus, including Burning Bush**#
Fire of the Prairie**
Japanese Barberry
Sumac
Jetbead
Multiflora Rose
Privet
Ribbon Grass
Trees
Black Locust*
Euonymus**
Norway Maple
Olive
Ornamental Pear (Callery: all cultivars, including Bradford: many decorative pear cultivars can cross-pollinate and be spread by birds. #**
Russian Olive
Siberian Elm
Tree of Heaven
White Mulberry
Woody Vines and Groundcover
Asian Wisteria
Cat’s Paw
Chocolate Vine
Euonymus **#
English Ivy
Honeysuckle Vine
Kudzu
Ornamental Bittersweet
Periwinkle
Porcelain Berry
Trumpet Vine
Wild Grape*
Wintercreeper (See Euonymus)**#
Resources:
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Invasive Species
https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/heritage-data-center/invasive-plant-species/
Purdue University: Official List of Invasive Species, Indiana
Indiana Native Plant Society
Protection of Native Plants
https://indiananativeplants.org
Indianapolis Star: “Indiana Invasive Plants Lurking in your Backyard”
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2021/09/08/indiana-invasive-plants-lurking-your-backyard/5413743001/