TNC Global Invasive Species Team page

List download
You can download the entire list as a single file (MS Word doc, 4.3MB file).

Frequently asked questions

Q: What if a plant is/isn't on this list?
To build this list, Rod extracted data from a large number of sources. These sources have differing criteria for including species, so the data have inherent selection effects and you should not interpret the inclusion of a plant as an iron-clad indictment of its invasive characteristics. However, one of the best predictors of a plant's invasiveness in a specific area is whether it has been observed as being invasive in other areas with similar characteristics. So if a plant is included on this list (and especially if it is listed multiple times), it may be wise to consider the plant to be a potential invader.

On the other hand, if a plant does not appear on his list, it may not be completely safe to assume the plant is not invasive---the plant may simply have slipped through the source lists for temporal, spatial, or other incompleteness reasons.

Q: Are there errors/limitations to the list?
1)This list is dated November 2003. Weeds adventive after this date are not included in the list.
2)There are occasional spelling errors. While usually not significant, they can foil searches through the database that you might make using exact search strings.
3)Revisions in systematics may make this list inconsistent with other lists. For examples: changes in Martyniaceae/Pedaliaceae, changes to Scrophulariaceae, etc. Entries for a plant such as Menyanthes might be found under both under Gentianaceae and Menyanthaceae.

Q: How do I read the codes in the list?
The list is ordered by plant family, each plant family section in the list is headed by the family name in bold face. Within each family section, the data format is simple with one record per line, where each line derived from a single source. Each line consists of 13 fields, where each field is separated by a comma. If a field has no information, it is still indicated by the pair of delimiting commas (i.e. ,,). The field definitions are:

Fields 1-4 are the plant's genus, species, synonyms, common names.
Field 5 is the plant's "Enviro code," and if present may look like a concatenated string of X's, H's, E's, S's, and w's (from Randall, R.P. 2001. Garden thugs, a national list of invasive and potentially invasive garden plants. Plant Protection Quarterly 16 (4), 138-171.)
X=is a recognised environmental weed, from numerous sources.
H=is a significant environmental weed, from numerous sources.
E=is a recognised significant environmental sleeper weed.
S=is a potential environmental weed with no previous weed history.
w=is a weed in Australia and elsewhere.
Field 6: L indicates the species is legally a Declared/Noxious plant in Australia, while Q indicates the plant is a Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy target species.
Field 7: P indicates it is prohibited to import the plant into Western Australia.
Field 8: G indicates the species is grown in gardens in Australia.
Field 9: N indicates the species is sold in nurseries somewhere in Australia.
Field 10: Lists the Australian states in which the species is a Declared/Noxious plant (WA=Western Australia, NT=Northern Territory, Qld=Queensland, NSW=New South Wales, Vic=Victoria, Tas=Tasmania, SA=South Australia).
Fields 11-13 provide comments, distribution information, and data source information respectively.

Q: Give me more information!
For more products related to Rod's big weed lists, refer to the large searchable database online at HEAR. The HEAR web site also contains information about Rod's book, called "A Global Compendium of Weeds."