State environmental officials are urging consumers to avoid invasive plants in holiday decorating.

With the holiday season fast approaching, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) and the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fish and Wildlife (MassWildlife) are urging homeowners and holiday decorators to beware of invasive plants that may be used in holiday wreaths and garlands.

“Many invasive plants serve as beautiful holiday decor, but these plants are a serious threat to the integrity of native biodiversity in the Commonwealth,” said DAR Commissioner Scott Soares. “Consumers should be conscious of which species are problematic.”

The two most common invasive plants used in holiday wreaths and garlands are Oriental Bittersweet and Multiflora Rose. While both plants are attractive, they can cause severe environmental damage by invading open fields, forests, wetlands, meadows and backyards, and crowding out native plants. Oriental Bittersweet is known to kill mature trees through strangling, and multiflora rose can form impenetrable thickets that keep out native plant species. Both species are difficult to control because even when the plants are cut, remaining segments in the ground will re-sprout. The placement of wreaths and garlands outdoors or disposing of them in compost piles can lead to new infestations when the fruits on these decorations are broadcast onto the soil. Birds and other animals also eat the fruit from wreaths and garlands and deposit seeds elsewhere.

Under Massachusetts law, it is illegal to import or sell Oriental Bittersweet or Multiflora Rose in any form (plants or cuttings) in the state.

To control the spread of invasive species, Massachusetts developed a Prohibited Plant List, which bans the importation and sale of more than 140 plants identified as either noxious or invasive in the Commonwealth. The complete list, which was established in 2006, can be found on the Department of Agricultural Resources web site.