Description

Key Information:

Soil: Mesic (Medium)
Sun: Full Sun – Part Sun
Height: Up to 50 feet
Bloom Color: Green – Yellow
Bloom Season: May – June

More Details:

Suggested Uses: American Bittersweet is a woody vine that can grow up to 50′ in length. It can be grown on a sturdy trellis or arbor.  It has showy, bright orange and red fruits that can be dried on the vine and used in dried flower arrangements. It is an excellent plant for making wreathes and garlands! The berries hold onto the vine well into the fall and winter.

Native Range:  Native to the eastern half of the U.S.

Pollinators: Provides nectar and pollen to bees and other insects. Host plant for at least one species of moth.

Flowers: The 1/6″ flowers have 4-5 petals and grow in terminal clusters.
Leaves: The ovate, pointed, serrated leaves are 2″-4″ long.

Note: Looks very similar to the non-native Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). Native bittersweet fruit develops on the end of branches whereas the fruit of the non-native variety develops from the leaf axils.

Food Uses:  Fruit is toxic to humans but attractive to birds.

More Information:  Dioecious. Need both male and female plants to set fruit!

More information: USDA plant profile