[Wikipedia] Europe Native, Noxious Weed in California: Gypsophila paniculata, the baby's breath, common gypsophila or panicled baby's-breath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to central and eastern Europe. Its natural habitat is on the Steppes in dry, sandy and stony places, often on calcareous soils (gypsophila = "chalk-loving"). Specimens of this plant were first sent to Linnaeus from St. Petersburg by the Swiss-Russian botanist Johann Amman.
Gypsophila paniculata is now widely distributed in North America.[9] It is classed as an invasive species in places around the Great Lakes, such as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore[10] and the Chicago region,[11] in the Pacific Northwest,[12] and California where it is a declared Noxious weed.[8] (link added by Mary Ann Machi)