Bittersweet

The bright outdoor colors of Spring and Summer have faded into dull greys and browns, but the bittersweet vine stands out like a hunter's blaze orange vest.



While the bright orange fruit of this vine may add color to a drab environment, it comes with some undesirable side effects. The oriental bittersweet vine (Celastrus orbiculatus) is an invasive, non-native plant which is crowding out the native American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). Once established, the oriental bittersweet vine engulfs other vegetation, slowly killing it. Oriental bittersweet vines wrap so tightly around their victims that the trees are strangled and the vines grow so dense as to block sunlight from other plants.