(1) “Agent” means any person selling or distributing nursery stock under the partial or full control of a nurseryman.

(2) “Aquatic plant” means any plant, including a floating, immersed, submersed, or ditch bank species, growing in or closely associated with an aquatic environment, and includes any part or seed of such plant.

(3) “Arthropod” means any segmented invertebrate animal having jointed appendages and an exoskeleton, including insects, spiders, ticks, mites, and scorpions, but excluding crustaceans for the purpose of this chapter.

(4) “Authorized representative” means any designated employee, inspector, or collaborator of the division or the United States Department of Agriculture.

(5) “Certificate of inspection” means an official document stipulating compliance with the requirements of this chapter. The term “certificate” includes label, rubber stamp imprint, tag, permit, written statement, or any form of inspection and certification document which accompanies the movement of inspected and certified plant material and plant products.

(6) “Certificate of registration” means an official document issued by the division to nurseries, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers as evidence of being properly registered with the division in compliance with the requirements of this chapter and of any of the rules promulgated hereunder.

(7) “Citrus” means all plants, plant parts, and plant products, including seed and fruit, of all genera, species, and varieties of the Rutaceous subfamilies Aurantioideae, Rutoideae, and Toddalioideae, unless specifically excluded by the rules of the department.

(8) “Collaborator” means a person cooperating with the division in some capacity, who has been officially designated to perform certain duties for the division.

(9) “Compliance agreement” means a written agreement between the department and any person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles, plants, or plant products regulated under this chapter, wherein the person agrees to comply with stipulated requirements.

(10) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services of the state or its authorized representative.

(11) “Director” means the director of the Division of Plant Industry.

(12) “Distribution” means the movement of nursery stock from the property where it is grown or kept to any other noncontiguous property, regardless of the ownership of the properties concerned.

(13) “Division” means the Division of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(14) “Genetically engineered organism” means an organism altered or produced through genetic modification from a donor, vector, or recipient organism using recombinant DNA techniques.

(15) “Invasive plant” means a naturalized plant that disrupts naturally occurring native plant communities.

(16) “Move” means to ship, offer for shipment, receive for transportation, carry, or otherwise transport.

(17) “Museum” means the Florida State Collection of Arthropods.

(18) “Noxious aquatic plant” means any part, including, but not limited to, seeds or reproductive parts, of an aquatic plant that has the potential to hinder the growth of beneficial plants, interfere with irrigation or navigation, or adversely affect the public welfare or the natural resources of this state.

(19) “Noxious weed” means any living stage, including, but not limited to, seeds and productive parts, of a parasitic or other plant of a kind, or subdivision of a kind, which may be a serious agricultural threat in Florida or have a negative impact on the plant species protected under s. 581.185.

(20) “Nursery” means any grounds or premises on or in which nursery stock is grown, propagated, or held for sale or distribution, except where aquatic plant species are tended for harvest in the natural environment.

(21) “Nurseryman” means any person engaged in the production of nursery stock for sale or distribution.

(22) “Nursery stock” means all plants, trees, shrubs, vines, bulbs, cuttings, grafts, scions, or buds grown or kept for or capable of propagation or distribution, unless specifically excluded by the rules of the department.

(23) “Official organ” means a printed document published by the division for notification to the public and industries in matters relating to division activities and in which official announcements may be made.

(24) “Places” means vessels, railroad cars, automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicles; buildings; docks; nurseries; orchards; and other premises where plants or plant products are grown, kept, or handled.

(25) “Plant broker” means a person who transacts the transfer of plants from a seller to a buyer and who may or may not be in actual physical possession of the plants.

(26) “Plant pest” means any living stage of any insects, mites, nematodes, slugs, snails, protozoa, or other invertebrate animals, bacteria, fungi, other parasitic plants or their reproductive parts, or viruses, or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing, including any genetically engineered organisms, or any infectious substances which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in any plants or plant parts or any processed, manufactured, or other plant products.

(27) “Plants and plant products” means trees, shrubs, vines, forage and cereal plants, and all other plants and plant parts, including cuttings, grafts, scions, buds, fruit, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, wood, lumber, and all products made from them, unless specifically excluded by the rules of the department.

(28) “Quarantine” means an official order issued by the department that regulates the movement of articles, plants, or plant products to prevent the spread of disease or pests.

(29) “Stock dealer” means any person not a grower of nursery stock in this state who buys or otherwise acquires nursery stock for the purpose of reselling independently of any control of a nurseryman, agent, or plant broker, and who at any time maintains physical possession of such nursery stock.

History.—s. 2, ch. 12291, 1927; CGL 3831; s. 7, ch. 22858, 1945; s. 6, ch. 29767, 1955; s. 13, ch. 59-1; s. 1, ch. 59-261; ss. 14, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 242, ch. 71-377; s. 1, ch. 79-158; s. 1, ch. 80-41; s. 1, ch. 84-355; s. 1, ch. 85-283; s. 1, ch. 87-32; s. 1, ch. 88-31; s. 1, ch. 89-199; s. 1, ch. 90-155; s. 2, ch. 92-147; s. 44, ch. 93-169; s. 1, ch. 97-220; s. 18, ch. 2005-210; s. 33, ch. 2012-190.

Note.—Former s. 581.14.