Invasive plants that choke out natives subject of new ban

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine officials are prohibiting sale and distribution of more than 30 plants that have been deemed to be invasive.

The state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry says the plants were reviewed by a committee of scientists, foresters, land managers and others. The prohibition does not go into effect until January 2018.

State agriculture commissioner Walt Whitcomb says the plants have turned up unwanted on farms, fields, forests and wetlands around the state. He says their spread is detrimental to other species, and that some dominate ecosystems, pushing out native plants.

State horticulturist Gary Fish says all but three of the plants have been sold in the nursery trade. The others are “hitchhikers” that sprout as weeds in the pots of plants sold in the nursery trade.

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Online: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/horticulture/invasiveplants.shtml