Section 177A.19. Harmful barberry.

  1.  No person, firm, or corporation shall receive, ship, accept for shipment, transport, sell, offer for sale, give away, deliver, plant, or permit to exist on the person’s, firm’s, or corporation’s premises any plant of the harmful barberry, or any plant of a species that shall be designated by the state entomologist in published regulations to be a host or carrier of a dangerous plant disease or insect pest.

  2.  The state entomologist and the entomologist’s inspectors, and authorized agents, are hereby empowered to eradicate any such plant found growing in the state. If the owner shall refuse or neglect to eradicate such plants within ten days after receiving a written notice, the expense of such eradication shall be assessed, collected, and enforced against the premises upon which such expense was incurred as taxes are assessed, collected and enforced.

  3.  The term “harmful barberry” shall be interpreted to consist of any species of Berberis or Mahonia susceptible to infection by Puccinia graminis, commonly called black stem rust of grain, but not including Japanese barberry (B. thunbergii), which does not propagate the rust.

  4.  The procedures provided in section 177A.17 and all other applicable provisions of sections 177A.5 to 177A.18 shall govern and apply to the enforcement of this section.

[C24, §4053; C27, 31, 35, §4062-b19; C39, §4062.19; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §267.19; C75, 77, 79, 81, §177A.19]