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Celastrus scandens

(American Bittersweet)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

American Bittersweet, Climbing Bittersweet, Staffvine, Waxwork

Description

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Family Celastraceae

The Celastraceae are trees and shrubs comprising about 50 genera and 800 species that are sometimes climbing or vining. The leaves are simple and alternate or opposite; stipules are small and caducous or absent. The flowers are bisexual or sometimes functionally unisexual , actinomorphic , and are small and often greenish. The calyx comprises 4 or 5 usually basally connate sepals. The corolla is rarely absent or more commonly consists of 4 or 5 distinct petals. The androecium consists of 4 or 5 or rarely 10 distinct stamens that alternate with the petals. The gynoecium is a single compound pistil of 2-5 carpels, a single short style, and a superior or rarely half inferior ovary with 2-5 locules, each containing usually 2 axile ovules. An annular nectary disk surrounds and is usually adnate to the ovary. The fruit is a capsule, berry, samara, or drupe. -- Gerald Carr.

Genus Celastrus

Climbing shrubs , deciduous, dioecious or polygamo-dioecious . Leaves alternate, thin or subcoriaceous; stipules minute, deciduous, sometimes absent, deeply serrate. Flowers small, whitish-green, in terminal or axillary racemes or paniculate cymes, 4-5-merous. Male flowers: stamens 4-5, about as long as the petals, inserted on the edge of the disc with a vistigial pistil. Female flowers: staminodes 4-5, ovary 2-4-lobed, 2-4-celled; ovules 1-2 in each cell . Capsule 3-celled, dehiscing by 3 valves ; seeds 1-2 in each cell, each enclosed in a fleshy red aril.

A tropical and a subtropical genus of about 30 species, mostly in N. America, Asia, Madagascar and Australia. One species has been reported from Pakistan.[1]

Physical Description

Habit: VineGrowth Form: Thicket Forming • Shape and Orientation: Columnar

Flowers: Bloom Period: SpringFlower Color: White • Flower Conspicuous: No

Seeds: Seed per Pound: 26080 • Seed Spread Rate: Moderate • Seedling Vigor: Medium • Fruit/Seed Abundance: High • Fruit/Seed Color: Orange • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: Yes • Cold Stratification Required: Yes

Foliage: Foliage Color: Green • Foliage Texture: CoarseFall Conspicuous: Yes • Leaf Retention: No

Size/Age/Growth

Active Growth Period: Spring and Summer • Growth Rate: Rapid • Mature Height (feet): 2.0 • Maximum Height at 20 Years (feet): 2 • Size: 20-30' tall. • Vegetative Spread Rate: Rapid • Lifespan: Lifespan

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,044 meters (0 to 6,706 feet).[2]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: PerennialCoppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: Yes • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Summer • Fruit/Seed Period End: FallFruit/Seed Persistence: No

Growth

Culture: Space 4-6' apart.

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: Yes • Anaerobic Tolerance: None • Salinity Tolerance: None • CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium • Minimum pH: 5.0 • Maximum pH: 7.5 • Fertility Requirement: Medium

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade. • Shade Tolerance: Tolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Medium • Minimum Precipitation: 30 • Maximum Precipitation: 60 • Moisture Use: High

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): -38 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 110 • Cold Hardiness: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 24-Jul-2003

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Celastrus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. flagellaris (Flagellaris Staff Tree) · C. gemmatus (Chinese Bittersweet) · C. loeseneri (Chinese Bittersweet) · C. orbiculatus (Asian Bittersweet) · C. orbiculatus 'Diana' (Chinese Bittersweet) · C. orbiculatus 'Hercules' (Oriental Bittersweet) · C. scadens (American Bittersweet) · C. scandens (American Bittersweet)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 18, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. "Celastrus". in Flora of Pakistan Page 13. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Mean = 300.540 meters (986.024 feet), Standard Deviation = 202.560 based on 2,115 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012