Homestead, FL Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Section 29-68 of the City Code incorporates by reference the exotic pest plant species list adopted under Policy 8I of the Conservation Element of Miami-Dade County's Comprehensive Development Master Plan, as that county list is amended over time. Every species on that list is banned from being sold, propagated, planted, imported or transported anywhere the city's jurisdiction reaches, with a single carve-out for Ficus benjamina, the common weeping fig used widely in South Florida hedges and screens. If a listed species is already present on a parcel slated for development, Section 29-68(1) requires it to be removed before development goes forward, effectively making a pre-development plant survey part of compliance.

Section 29-68(2) defines the regulated acts precisely: importation means bringing plants into Miami-Dade County by any means, planting means placing or setting live plant material into the ground, propagation means multiplying plants through any reproductive process, and sale means transferring plants to a buyer for consideration. This prohibited-species rule sits alongside a softer 'controlled plant species' category defined in Section 29-3, covering species that can invade native habitats but may still be used in landscape design if kept at least 500 feet from the habitat they threaten; the Section 29-68 list carries no such buffer option; those species cannot be used at all.

Section 29-60(d)(6) separately lists specific invasive trees, including Melaleuca, Brazilian pepper and Australian pine, whose removal is exempt from the city's tree-removal permit precisely because eliminating them is encouraged.