Rhode Island is the only New England state that doesn’t have a list of invasive plants that are banned, or at least identified in Connecticut’s case. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s invasive plants webpage simply notes some of the damage nonnative species can cause, but only mentions two: phragmites and black swallow-wort. Neither are sold at nurseries, although the latter was historically sold as an ornamental vine here and elsewhere.

Today, the European species (Cynanchum louiseae), also known as dog-strangling vine, has overrun acres of space that once belonged to native plants, such as milkweed. Monarch butterflies rely on native milkweed as a major food source and a place to lay their eggs. Female monarchs, however, can confuse milkweed with the invasive black swallow-wort. Larvae that hatch on black swallow-wort can’t mature because of a toxin produced by the nonnative look-alike.

There’s no law stopping, say, a big-box garden center in Rhode Island from stocking black swallow-wort should a general public known for questionable tastes demand the European intruder.

Legislation recently introduced by Rep. Jennifer Boylan, D-Barrington, and Sen. Mark McKenney, D-Warwick, would ban nonnative invasive plants from being imported, sold, or distributed in Rhode Island.

It will indubitably be held for further study, but the lawmakers’ concerns are legitimate.

“Invasive plants are a scourge on the biodiversity and natural beauty of Rhode Island, and between the work of our land trusts, the Department of Environmental Management, and concerned community members across the state, we’ve put a lot of time and money into pulling them out of the ground,” Boylan said.

Japanese barberry, burning bush, and privet shouldn’t be going into the ground in the first place. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), native to China and Japan, quickly spreads from home and commercial gardens to choke out native species. It’s also a popular tick habitat. The sale of the invasive shrub has been banned in Massachusetts since 2009, but remains a popular landscape choice here and elsewhere.

Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is a highly invasive, woody shrub native to Asia that aggressively displaces native plants. Its vibrant red color makes it popular with property owners despite its detrimental impacts to the native environment. The sale of this nonnative species has also been banned in Massachusetts since 2009.

Four species of privet — California, Chinese, European, and border — are highly invasive. All four displace native vegetation and shade out understory plants. This invasive, of which species I don’t know, is routinely planted as an ornamental hedge or vegetative buffer for the unaffordable homes being built in my once-modest Portsmouth neighborhood.

Boylan noted Rhode Island is an outlier in the United States, as 46 other states restrict the sale and distribution of invasive plants. Even Florida restricts the sale, transport, and distribution of invasive species.

One would think the smallest state could get a handle on this suffocating problem.

“The single greatest stewardship challenge facing Rhode Island’s land trust community is managing invasive plants,” said Kate Sayles, executive director of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council. “These species are widespread, expensive to deal with, and threaten the biodiversity and health of our landscapes.”

The legislation would ban the sale, purchase, importation, distribution, introduction, and dispersal of any species of nonnative invasive plant in Rhode Island. The DEM director would design and publish the regulations that would govern the ban, and the agency would maintain a list of all prohibited plants.

DEM, in its written testimony, noted its inspectors are already stretched thin without further adding to their duties.

Since we can’t properly fund public transit, bridge infrastructure or affordable housing, nor enforce the environmental laws already on the books, I suspect the state will retreat from this fight before it even begins. It has failed to engage so far.

In the meantime, invasive plants will continue to be sold at nurseries, escape from the manicured lawns of second homes, strangle roadside vistas, mar the places we like to hike, and provide little for native wildlife.

“Native plants are the foundation of healthy habitats for birds, pollinators, and entire food webs,” said Jeffrey Hall, executive director of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island. “Native plants protect and strengthen ecosystems, especially as climate change is reshaping our environment. Removing invasive plants, once they get established in the ecosystem, is far more costly than preventing their sale to begin with.”

Note: For a list of invasive plants banned in Massachusetts, click here. For Connecticut’s list of invasive plant species, click here.

Frank Carini can be reached at [email protected]. His opinions don’t reflect those of ecoRI News.