The Missouri House passed a ban on sales of multiple invasive plants Thursday.
Senate Bill 105 prohibits plant nurseries from importing, exporting, buying or selling climbing euonymus, all varieties of Japanese honeysuckle, sericea lespedeza, perilla mint, burning bush and Callery pear. It passed 124-19.
The plants are non-native to the region and are also invasive, meaning they grow out of control in Missouri, choking out native plants and causing issues for ecosystems and landowners.
“There are some parts of the state where we have such a robust population of some of these invasive plants, I don’t know how we’ll ever get rid of them,” said Rep. Bruce Sassmann, a Republican who represents Osage and Gasconade counties. “But the value of this piece of legislation is we have parts of the state where some of those invasive species do not exist, and if we can shut down the sale of them, maybe we could prevent them from spreading across the entire state of Missouri.”
The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association advocated to add perilla mint to the legislation because it can kill cows.
Callery pears have weak branches, a stinky smell and grow quickly, especially along the sides of highways.
This law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2029, which lawmakers said would give nursery owners time to replace inventory with other plants that aren’t invasive.
The Missouri Senate passed the bill in February. It now heads to Gov. Mike Kehoe for a signature.
