KENNEBUNK – Those looking to bring a festive look the season sometimes use colorful plants they find in nature. But one plant that is sometimes used – Asiatic, often also called Oriental, bittersweet – can have unintended consequences, as the vine can kill a tree by twining around the trunk and strangling it. The plants can also kill low-growing vegetation simply by spreading and choking it out, note local and state officials.

Kennebunk’s Tree Committee, whose charge is to look out for the town’s trees and encourage sound environmental and cultural practices, is asking folks decorating their properties this year, whether with a wreath on their front door or other holiday decoration, to refrain from using Asiatic bittersweet.

“Do not decorate with it, ” advised committee member and gardener Trish Kinkade noting that those who go out and cut Asiatic bittersweet and bring the cuttings home may be spreading it.

If the wreath is tossed away after the holidays, seeds may result in growth in the location in the spring, or spread elsewhere from birds that eat the seeds, she said.

Instead, she said, if bittersweet is desired, use the artificial variety.

Wayne Cutting is the town’s tree warden and a tree committee member who worked in the tree and landscape industry for 50 years. He said Asiatic bittersweet is on Maine’s “do not sell’ list.

“It can kill mature trees, and it will grow where it can,” he said.

The advice comes as the committee looks to make residents aware of tree quality, diversity, and care as part of their public awareness initiative.

Plants on Maine’s Do Not Sell list are “illegal to import, export, buy, sell or intentionally propagate for sale.”

Asiatic bittersweet, which bears the Latin name Celastrus orbiculatus, was introduced to the United States from Asia in the 1860s. The woody, deciduous perennial vine becomes an extremely aggressive and damaging invader of both wild areas and maintained landscapes, according to information provided by the committee, and the vines can reach as much as 60 feet in length. Bittersweet is spread primarily by seeds, which remain viable even after drying and can still germinate once a wreath or other decoration is discarded.

The yellow-green flowers develop in spring and the yellow- skinned fruit first appears in later summer, and split to reveal a bright red center, the committee said

It can be controlled by regular cutting. The horticultural program of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry said that very small plants and seedlings may be pulled up by the roots when soil is moist; larger vines can be cut, but aggressive re-sprouting will occur. The program advises cutting larger vines at chest and ankle height to prevent new vines climbing up old ones. Persistent cutting alone, multiple times during the growing season over several years, may kill the plant, but diligence is required. For more information, visit www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/invasive_plants/celastrus.htm.

“Once it spreads, it will kill whatever it is attached to, said Kinkade.

And, said Cutting, if people do not have it on their property, “be aware.”

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