CPNWC Bans Six Plants

HARRISBURG – The Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Committee (CPNWC) of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) banned the distribution, cultivation or propagation of the species of plants listed below at its October 22, 2020 meeting.

The meeting took place virtually via Skype. PLNA was represented on the CPNWC by Tom Tilley of Tilley’s Nursery in Coopersburg, Pa. Alternate representative Gregg Robertson, PLNA government relations consultant was also present.

The ban will take effect sixty days after the list is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. As of this writing, the list had not yet been published.

The species banned were:

• Japanese Angelica Tree (Aralia elata), Class B
• Japanese Hops (Humulus japonica), Class B
  
• Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Class B
• Black Swallowort (Vincetoxium nigrum syn. Cynachum louiseae), Class B
• Pale Swallowort (Vincetoxium rossicum syn. Cynachum rossicum), Class B
• Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), Class B

If you have concerns or comments about any of these species, please call (717.238.2033) or email Gregg Robertson at PLNA.

The next meeting of the CPNWC will take place virtually on Skype January 21, 2021 at 1:00 pm. The list of the plants to be considered at this meeting will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin a week or two before the meeting. If you would like to be included in the meeting as a member of the public, please contact Trilby Libhart at PDA via tlibhart@pa.gov.