Pronunciation: sel-ASS-trus SKAN-dens
A native woody vine with small greenish flowers at the ends of shoots. Follow the flower stalk back to the leaves: the terminal cluster is a useful clue when separating American Bittersweet from its invasive relative.
Small, five-petaled flowers in an elongated terminal cluster.
Family Celastraceae · staff-tree family
Genus Celastrus
Life cycle Perennial woody vine
Size Often 20–30 feet or more with support
Bloom Late spring to early summer
Flower color Greenish-white to yellow-green
Habitat Woodland edges, thickets, and open ground
Other names Climbing Bittersweet, Waxwork
Observation maps show reported sightings, including planted or escaped populations. They do not define the native range.
Follow the flowering shoot. The small flowers form an elongated cluster at its tip, above the ordinary foliage leaves.
Check the leaves. Leaves are alternate and simple, with finely toothed edges and a pointed tip. Shape supports identification, but is less reliable than the placement of flowers and fruit.
Look closely at a flower. Five pale greenish petals surround the central reproductive structures. The flowers are much less conspicuous than the autumn fruit.
Search sunny woodland margins, brushy openings, and thickets. This vine climbs by twining around supports; without support, it may spread across the ground.
Flowers appear in late spring and early summer. Autumn brings yellow foliage and conspicuous fruit on female plants.
Native to central and eastern North America, including Wisconsin and Illinois. Observation maps document sightings rather than a complete native-range boundary.
American Bittersweet: flowers and fruit are grouped at the ends of shoots. Mature capsule walls are usually orange.
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus): smaller clusters occur in leaf axils along the stems, and mature capsule walls are typically yellow. Both reveal orange-red seed coverings, so the red color alone does not identify either species.
Use cluster position together with capsule color and foliage. Hybrids occur, and a tight fruit close-up may not show enough of the branch to settle an identification.
Male and female flowers usually occur on separate plants. Female plants develop capsules that split to reveal fleshy orange-red seed coverings called arils. Birds eat these and disperse the seeds.
The showy fruit can persist after leaf fall. Photograph the entire fruiting shoot as well as a close-up to preserve the most useful identification evidence.
Scandens means climbing, referring to the vine’s growth habit. American Bittersweet belongs to the staff-tree family and is unrelated to Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).
Explore more species in the guide, then practice recognizing wildflowers in the quiz.
