Prohibited Noxious Weeds - Descriptions and Images
The weeds on this page may appear on the Commercial Pesticide Applicator Category 5, Industrial Vegetation Control Exam. Click on each noxious weed, below, for images and descriptions. To study for the exam, review both the images and the descriptions.
See the bulletin - "Ohio's Noxious Weed Laws" - for more information about the requirements of this law.
The current list of prohibited noxious weeds is found in Ohio Administrative code OAC 901:5-37-01
Apple of Peru (Nicandra physalodes)
Canada Thistle (Cirsum arvense)
Columbus grass (Sorghum x almun)
Cressleaf groundsel (Senecio glabellus)
Cypress Spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias)
Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)
Forage Kochia (Bassia prostrata)
Giant Hogweed (Hercleum mantegazzianum)
Grapevines, uncultivated & in groups >100 (Vitus spp.)
Hairy white top or ballcress (Lepidium appelianum)
Heart-podded hoary cress (Lepidium draba sub. Draba)
Hedge bindweed (Castyegia sepium)
Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
Johnsongrass (Sorgum halepense)
Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)
Mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum)
Palmer amaranth (Amaranthys palmeri)
Perennial sowthistle (Sanchus arvensis)
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Russian knapweed (Rhaponticum repens)
Russian thistle (Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia)
Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma)
Shatter cane (Sorghum bicolor)
Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)
Water hemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus)
Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
Yellow groove bamboo (Phyllostachys aureasculata)
An additional identification guide of Ohio noxious weeds from Ohio State University is available at https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/ohionoxiousweeds/. Note this publication does not contain noxious weeds that were added to the state list after 2019.