Breeding Non-Invasive Nursery Crops
Thomas G. Ranney, Darren H. Touchell, Thomas A. Eaker, Nathan P. Lynch, Joel A. Mowrey and and Jeremy C. Smith
Concern and awareness over invasive plants continues to grow. Most states have formed exotic plant pest councils (http://www.invasivespecies.gov/other/orgcounci. shtml) and many agencies, organizations, and individuals have developed and distributed "black lists" of plants that they feel should not be grown. Many of these lists include plants that are currently being produced by the nursery industry. The Connecticut legislature passed Public Act 04-203 in 2004 prohibiting the importing, moving, selling, purchasing, transplanting, cultivating, or distributing of 81 different plants with penalties of up to $100 per individual plant. In 2005, the Commissioner of Agriculture in New Hampshire adopted an Invasive Species Rule (3800) prohibiting the collection, transportation, selling, distribution, propagation, and transplanting of 21 plants with a number of economically important nursery crops (e.g., Acer platanoides (Norway maple), Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry), and Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus) included. More recently, in 2007, the Suffolk County legislature, Long Island, passed an invasive plant law that forbids the sale, propagation, and introduction of plants on a "Do Not Sell" list: (http://www. co.suffolk.ny.us/legis/resos2007/i1144-07.htm). Most likely, other states and counties will follow suit.
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