Down & Dirty Plant Restrictions

By Gregory Koob

Are you thinking of sending some seeds or cuttings or flowers to a friend on the U.S. Mainland? There are some regulations you should be aware of before you mail those packages. For example, you cannot send any of the following:
Cactus plants or parts of cactus plants
Citrus plants or parts
Fresh fruits and vegetables (including berries, hala lei, mokihana lei and rat-tail fruits
Gardenia flowers and gardenia plants with foliage
Mango seeds
Rose plants or pars except rose flowers without foliage
Maunaloa and jade vine flowers, green seeds or pods
Rice stem or straw
Sugar cane cuttings, leaves, bagasse, seeds (except "chews")
Sweet potato and related plants and parts (except treated tubers)
Soil, earth or sand around roots of plants
Swamp cabbage (ung choi)
Kikuyu grass
Mock orange berries
Onion and chives
Some states have particular restrictions. For example:
Alabama restricts Camellia plants and flowers
Arizona restricts citrus plants and seeds and other primary and secondary hosts for scale insects, and other rooted plants
California restricts all citrus plants and seeds, and all other rooted material except for epiphytic orchids, dormant rootless bulbs, aquatic plants and plants from certified nurseries, or plants from prime host cuttings proved to be fee from burrowing nematodes.
Florida restricts citrus plants and camellia plants and flowers
Louisiana restricts all rooted plants (the same as California) and camellia plants and flowers
Nevada restricts tomato plants
Oregon restricts grapevine, narcissus, daffodils and jonquils
Puerto Rico restricts coffee plants and parts, coconut citrus (all plants in the citrus family) plants and cuttings, palms pineapple and sugarcane plants.
Texas restricts all citrus plants and seeds, Camellia plants and flowers and all rooted plants (the same as CA)
Washington restricts grape vines, narcissus and seed potatoes
Guam is similar to the mainland except citrus and rose plants are allowed.

Some materials are subject to fumigation. Sand, soil or earth samples under Federal permit, for example must be fumigated (steam sterilized or treated material is also allowed).
The following are subject to inspection and, if they pass, can be sent:
Cut flowers, lei, woodroses, foliage, seeds and dried nuts
Pineapple, fox heads, Musa Rosacea flowering bananas and fruit and sausage fruit
All frozen fruits including sliced and deseeded mangos, lychee, dragon's eye, guava and passion fruit
Other unrestricted plant materials and cuttings.

For more information, contact Plant Quarantine Branch of the Department of Agriculture on Hawai'i Island at
933-4455. n
Dr. Gregory Koob is with the USDA National Resources Conservation Service in Honolulu and welcomes your questions. A complete archive of Hawai'i Horticulture (1998-2001) is available on CD-R. Contact Dr. Koob at koob@hawaiiislandjournal.com.

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