Celastraceae
Bittersweet Family
Celastrus scandens
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). The brightly colored fruits are what you notice about Bittersweet. Two species of Celastrus, a native one (Celastrus scandens) and this invasive Asian import, are found wild in our area, but the invader has become much more common. It has rounder leaves than the native species, and the native bears its fruits in dangling clusters, whereas Oriental Bittersweet holds its fruits straight out from the stem.