Along County Road 17 in the Tree Tops development in Winona, an invasive plant is devastating old-growth trees. The leafy vines of Oriental bittersweet snake their way up roots, wrap around trunks, and stretch until they cover the trees. The vines starve the trees of sunlight, and eventually the weight of the bittersweet plant topples the dying tree. It takes a year or two for the bittersweet plant to kill a tree that has lived for 50 years or more.
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