Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Celastrales > Celastraceae > Celastrus > Celastrus scandens

Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet; staffvine; waxwork)

Synonyms: Celastrus bullatus (heterotypic); Euonymus scandens (heterotypic); Evonymoides scandens (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

Celastrus scandens, commonly called American bittersweet or bittersweet, is a species of Celastrus that blooms mostly in June and is commonly found on rich, well-drained soils of woodlands. It is a sturdy perennial vine that may have twining, woody stems that are 30 feet (9.1 m) or longer and an inch or more thick at the base. The stems are yellowish-green to brown and wind around other vegetation, sometimes killing saplings by restricting further growth. It has tiny, scentless flowers at the tips of the branches. It has colorful, orange fruits that are the size of a pea. These fruits are poisonous to humans when ingested internally, but are favorites of birds. C. scandens roots were used by Amerindians and pioneers to induce vomiting, to treat venereal disease, and to treat symptoms of tu
View Wikipedia Record: Celastrus scandens

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Spring
Drought Tolerance [1]  Medium
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Flower Type [2]  Dioecious
Frost Free Days [1]  3 months 20 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  High
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Thicket Forming
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Rapid
Hazards [2]  The fruit is poisonous; All parts of the plant are potentially toxic;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Container, Seed
Root Depth [1]  18 inches (46 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Moderate
Seed Vigor [1]  Medium
Seeds Per [1]  26080 / lb (57496 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Columnar
Structure [2]  Vine
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  Rapid
Flower Color [1]  White
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  Orange
Fall Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Fruit Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  26 feet (8 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mostly Shady
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  High
View Plants For A Future Record : Celastrus scandens

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

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Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
3Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
4HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
6Sciurus niger, John L. Koprowski, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 479, pp. 1-9 (1994)
7Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
8Robertson, C. Flowers and insects lists of visitors of four hundred and fifty three flowers. 1929. The Science Press Printing Company Lancaster, PA.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0