Pennsylvania is home to a variety of invasive plants and animals.  In the past various blights destroyed vast numbers of chestnut trees in the state.  The tent caterpillar and gypsy moth are two other recent invasive insects.  Currently the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid an invasive insect from Asia is destroying hemlocks across the eastern seaboard.  In large areas of the south the hemlock is all but extinct.  This threat has reached Pennsylvania already and many of our graceful hemlock climax forests are dead or dying.  Invasive animals are not the only threat to Pennsylvania's forests.  We also are under attack by vast arrays of invasive plants.

Invasive Plants are those plants that displace other species aggressively.  Most often these plants are exotic and are not normally found in the ecosystem in which they are thriving.  The plant species listed below are know problems in Pennsylvania as well as other states.  Please destroy them if you have them on your property, and do not plant them if they are not present.  We will never rid ourselves of invasives, but preserving natural habitats is a must.

The following plants are considered invasive by the State of Pennsylvania.  Click on the image below to visit the Pa DCNR website on Invasive Plants: