Highlands County, FL Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Highlands County Code Section 7-5, adopted by Ordinance No. 83-12 and amended by Ordinance Nos. 90-15 and 92-27, prohibits use as live landscaping material on a commercial basis of eight specific species anywhere in the county: Cajeput (Melaleuca quinquevervia), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), Australian pine (Casuarina litorea), Scaly-bark beefwood (Casuarina glauca), Beefwood (Casuarina cunninghamiana), Silk-oak (Grevillea robusta), Chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach) and Chinese tallow (Sapium seviferum). Subsection (b) goes further, making it unlawful to import, transport, sell, propagate or plant any of the same eight species for hire or commercial use anywhere in the county.

The ordinance defines each verb narrowly: importation is conveying plants into the county on a commercial basis, planting is placing live plant material in the ground as a commercial endeavor, propagation is multiplying plant stock commercially, and transportation is carrying plants for the purpose of sale, planting, importation or propagation. Because every operative definition ties back to commercial activity, the section does not reach a homeowner who already has one of these trees growing on private property or who removes and replants without any payment changing hands.

3. Section 7-5 itself does not spell out a fine; a violation is pursued through the county's general code enforcement process rather than a stated dollar penalty printed inside this section.