I’m sad to say, an exotic invasive, Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), is spreading rapidly throughout my woods. This is what the vine looks like right now in the middle of winter. Red berries encased in bright yellow capsules, that get eaten by birds and other animals and then distributed by the critters, often long distances away. Oriental Bittersweet is dioecious, which means pollen and fruits come from separate male and female plants. That in turn means that if you see these berries, you are more than likely only seeing half the Oriental Bittersweet plants – only the female plants.
And another image of Oriental Bittersweet as it looks right now, midwinter.
Native to China, Japan and Korea this difficult to control vine was first introduced to the United States sometime around 1860 as an ornamental plant.
More on identification of Oriental Bittersweet in my next blog post.
