Maryland Definition of Invasive Plants

Click to go to current MDA Invasive Plant List.

Maryland Department of Agriculture regulates the sale of invasive plants. Until recently, Maryland’s Invasive Plant Advisory Committee (IPAC) has used a weed assessment protocol to determine whether to advise the Secretary of Agriculture to classify an invasive plant as

• Tier I (a person may not propagate, import, transfer, sell, purchase, transport, or introduce any living part of the plant in MD) or
• Tier 2 (a person may not sell or provide landscaping services to plant the plant without informing the customer).

Relatively few invasive plants in Maryland “pass” this protocol to be declared Tier 1 or Tier 2 invasives. The current MDA Invasive Plant List is relatively short for that reason.

That situation is in the process of changing, due to the Biodiversity and Agriculture Protection Act — sometimes called the “invasive plant species bill” — went into effect in June 2024. A new invasive species list was supposed to replace the tier classification system by October 2024. The wording of the regulations based on the bill are still under discussion. Learn more about this bill…

Click here to learn more about classifying plants as invasive.