Oriental bittersweet
Family
CelastraceaeScientific Name
Celastrus orbiculatus
Other Common Names:
Oriental bittersweet
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Celastrus orbiculata
Habit
It is a climbing, woody vine that can suffocate trees and spreads by seeds and sprouting of roots.
Leaves
Alternate, simple round to oval leaves are 2 - 4 inches long, serrated, and come to a blunt tip. The top is green and the bottom is often paler.
Identifying Characteristics
Flowers and fruit end to cluster together and leaves are often smaller than native bittersweet. American bittersweet often has larger, elliptical leaves and the fruit appears at the end of the stem while the fruit in oriental bittersweet appears up and down the stem with the leaves.
Flower Seed Head
Few, green, small flowers that are smaller than the adjoined leaf.
Seed Fruit
Orange berries that appear in clusters and are about 1 cm long.
Where Found
Found in woods thickets and maybe pastures.
Growth Habit
vine
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
pencil
Dominant Flower Color
green
Flower Symmetry
not symmetrical
Leaf Hairs
no hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
round,
oval
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
Varies:
fibrous,
taproot
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Vine