Gardening partisan in Texas have an abundance of options for cultivating beautiful landscape . However , some plants are strictly off - limits due to their trespassing nature or menace to local ecosystems . To keep your garden within the natural law , here ’s a list of 12 plants that are illegal to grow in Texas .
Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta)
Giant Salvinia is a highly invasive aquatic works in Texas . It spreads quickly , forming thick mats that block sunlight and boil down oxygen in piss . This harm aboriginal plant life , fish , and other wildlife . Originally introduce as an ornamental plant , it now poses a serious bionomical threat . TheTexas Parks and Wildlife Departmentclassifies it as a problematic aquatic plant . Growing , owning , or transport it is illegal and can ensue in fines .
Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata)
Hydrilla is another aquatic industrial plant that play havoc in Texas waterway . This invasive species grows aggressively , clog water systems and disrupting ecosystem . It can negatively bear on unpaid activities like fishing and boat and vie with aboriginal plants for essential resources . It is enlisted as one of the Federal noxious sens , and theTexas governmentprohibits people from adding it to any Texas water bodies .
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
Water Hyacinth is a highly aggressive and trespassing batch of metal money . They can mould dense mats on the aerofoil of ponds and lakes . These matsblocksunlight , deplete oxygen levels , and can run to fish die - offs . As a non - native plant , it pose meaning ecological risk , and growing , possessing , or transporting it anywhere in Texas is illegal .
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Although look up to for the vibrant purple flowers , Purple Loosestrife are n’t originally from North America and can position serious threats to local ecosystem . This invasive plant life is course aggressive andcompeteswith aboriginal flora for essential resources , interrupt wetland habitats . Texas proscribe its possession , raptus , or cultivation to safeguard the state ’s biodiversity .
Kudzu (Pueraria montana)
Kudzu is infamous for overtaking and put down other plants by mold dense blankets of leaf , girdle woody stem , and even tumble Tree and shrubs with its Brobdingnagian weight . This vine originate astonishingly fast , reachingup to 60 feetin a single develop season . Due to its fast-growing bedcover and destructive nature , it is number as a noxious and trespassing plant by the Texas Department of Agriculture , making its sale , statistical distribution , and spell strictly illegal .
Chinese Tallow Tree (Triadica sebifera)
Despite its heart - shape leaves and vibrant dip colors , the Chinese Tallow Tree poses significant ecological risks . Its aggressive growth displaces aboriginal plant , form monoculture that disrupt local ecosystems . The tree ’s leaves , fruits , and sap are toxic to world and animals , including pets and livestock . It alsoacceleratesnutrient runoff , enriching water with phosphates and run through oxygen levels , harm aquatic life .
Giant Reed (Arundo donax)
Giant Reed overruns riversides and stream channels , imprint dense monocultures that displace native plants and disrupt H2O flow . It ability to grow fast and spread through float shard do it extremely incursive . Flammableand fire - prostrate , it amaze ecological and safety risks , placing it on Texas ’s prohibit noxious plants lean .
Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum)
Tropical Soda Apple , a briary perennial bush standing3 to 6 feettall , is listed as a Federal Noxious Weed . It disrupts ecosystems by crowding out native plant and turn down biodiversity . It also acts as a innkeeper for crop - damaging virus , pose a serious threat to Texas agriculture and lifelike areas .
Johnson Grass (Sorghum halepense)
Johnsongrass , a hardy perennial native to the Mediterranean , was introduced to Texas in the1800sas pasturage . However , it can stimulate nitril poisoning in livestock , especially after stressor like frost or chemical lotion . Due to its terror to livestock , Texas made it illegal to engraft Johnsongrass on rented terra firma in 1895 and fined railroads for failing to control it .
Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
Russian Olive is a highly trespassing tree diagram that disrupts local ecosystems by outcompeting aboriginal plant . Itdepletessoil nutrients and water reserve , especially in riparian zone where it thrives after cottonwood have expired . It has the ability to fix atomic number 7 in its roots and this give up it to master areas , making it a significant scourge to Texas ’s natural habitats .
Salt Cedar (Tamarisk spp.)
Saltcedars , which can grow5 to 20 feettall , are tight - spread shrub or tree that pose significant threats to Texas ecosystems . With pallid pink or lily-white flowers , they speedily crowd together out native plants and disrupt water system by tapping into deep water sources . These plants offer little bionomic welfare and are classified as noxious invaders in Texas .
Torpedograss (Panicum repens)
Torpedograss is a highly resilient plant life that thrives in damp soil and can stand firm extreme drought condition once established . Its invasive nature makes it unbelievably hard to control or remove and speedily spreads across lawn and landscape . Due to its potential danger to local ecosystem , the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department ( TPWD)prohibitsits cultivation .
Japanese Dodder (Cuscuta japonica)
in the beginning usher in to Texas on kudzu plants , the Japanese Dodder was first discovered in San Antonio , Texas , Quincy , Florida , and Clemson University . Although initially eradicate , it was rediscover in Houston in2001 . By 2010 , the plant had diffuse to over 245 sites . Efforts by local potency in Houston to hold in it have been on-going , with exacting regulations now preventing dodder seed shipments into the U.S.
Chinaberry (Melia azedarach)
Chinaberry trees are extremely incursive and form obtuse thickets , outcompeting aboriginal plants by growing quickly from root sprouts . Their folio bedding material alters soil chemistry , hindering the growth of other vegetation . All parts of the tree , include the fruit , are known to be toxic to humans , darling , and livestock . The Texas Department of Agriculture list it as aprohibited plant .
