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Apr 2, 2024 · Oriental bittersweet is a deciduous, woody vine that can easily reach up to 100 feet. The glossy alternate leaves are round, finely toothed, and round or oval in shape with pointed tips. In May or June, small, greenish-yellow, five-petaled flowers appear in the leaf axils.
- Nadia Hassani
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What is Oriental bittersweet?
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Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) was introduced to the United States in the 1860s from east Asia. This woody, deciduous, perennial vine has since naturalized and become an extremely aggressive and damaging invader of natural areas. Oriental bittersweet chokes out desirable native plants by smothering them with its dense foliage and stra...
Size
Single vines can reach 60 feet in length, though it will only grow as high as the vegetation it is climbing. As a perennial vine, it puts on yearly growth and can reach diameters of over 10 inches.
Leaves
Distinctly round with toothed edges, the leaves are alternately arranged along the stem and between 3 and 4 inches in length. In late summer the leaves turn vivid yellow, usually before native plants gain their fall color, making this vine easy to spot from a distance.
Flowers
Oriental bittersweet is dioecious; pollen and fruit are borne on separate male and female plants. In late spring, the female yellow-green flowers, each less than ½ inch long, grow from the leaf axils all along the stem in clusters of two or three. The male flowers are not distinct.
American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) is a similar but far less common native species that is listed as rare or vulnerable in several states. American bittersweet leaves are more football-shaped than rounded. Their flowers and fruit also emerge only from the ends of the stems, rather than at each leaf axil, as with Oriental bittersweet. The fru...
Oriental bittersweet reproduces by seed and vegetatively by sprouting from an extensive root system. Its conspicuous fruit is spread primarily by birds and persists from late summer through winter. A significant vector of this vine is its continued use as a component of decorative wreaths—its seeds remain viable even after drying and can germinate ...
While Oriental bittersweet prefers full sun, it tolerates dense shade while young. Sprouts growing in shade seek out full sun by climbing nearby vegetation and forming a blanket over the forest canopy. It thrives especially well in moist areas and areas with exposed mineral soil, such as disturbed sites, but it grows in many soil conditions, includ...
Though attacking the root system is the only way to kill the vine, freeing surrounding trees and other vegetation from the weight of the aerial stems by cutting them at ground level is typically the first step in controlling the vine. When mature, one root system may support dozens of stems, many of which may be very small or wrapped around desirab...
Prescriptions for controlling invasive Oriental bittersweet emphasize cutting the aerial growth to facilitate late season foliar herbicide treatments to injure the root system. Hack-and-squirt, basal bark, and stump treatments can be made anytime the weather permits. Product names reflect the current Pennsylvania state herbicide contract; additiona...
Species Profile: Oriental Bittersweet. Grows as a vine that smothers plants and uproots trees due to its weight (Fryer 2011)
It is commonly called Oriental bittersweet, [2] [3] [4] as well as Chinese bittersweet, [3] Asian bittersweet, [4] round-leaved bittersweet, [4] and Asiatic bittersweet. It is native to China, where it is the most widely distributed Celastrus species, and to Japan and Korea. [ 5 ]
Nov 13, 2015 · A beautiful plant along the roadways in late fall, Oriental bittersweet is a threat to native environments by aggressively choking out other woody plants. Collecting can cause spreading. Fruits of Oriental bittersweet show a golden capsule opening up to reveal a crimson seed.
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is an invasive, perennial vine. Introduced from east Asia in the 1860’s it has naturalized and become an extremely aggressive and damaging invader of natural areas.
Native to Japan, Korea, and China, Oriental Bittersweet spreads both by seeds and root suckers to form large colonies in the wild. It is considered to be an invasive weed in many parts of the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, because of its ability to spread aggressively in the landscape.
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