Alternate name: Oriental Bittersweet

Family: Celastraceae, Staff Tree view all from this family

Description Introduced. Twining, invasive woody vine that grows in masses over other plants and bears bright, attractive, yellow and red fruits.
Flowers: tiny, green.
Leaves: round or ovate, toothed.
Fruit: yellow to yellow-orange capsule splits to reveal showy scarlet fruit; fruits rise in clusters from leaf axils.
Height: variable; to 30' (9 m).

Flower May–June.

Habitat Woodland edges, marshes, coastal areas, roadsides, fencerows, fields, disturbed habitats.

Range Asia native; introduced to North America and naturalized from New England to Georgia, Iowa, and Arkansas.

Discussion Our native American Bittersweet is being replaced in the Northeast by the more aggressive Asian Bittersweet, which has escaped from cultivation and can cover huge trees, much like Kudzu does in the South, eventually blocking out all other plant growth. The stems of this vine can grow to 4" (10 cm) in diameter and can strangle trees and other plants. The seeds of this invasive plant are dispersed largely by birds. Another mode of dispersal is by people, who use the vines in holiday wreaths and then throw them away, thereby further spreading the seeds. In some states this plant is a prohibited noxious weed.