Bittersweet – the Good and the Bad
Oriental Bittersweet berries
I’m not talking about chocolate, a musical group or a pastry shop.
At this time of year, with deciduous leaves not obscuring your view, and the woods and thickets kind of drab and colorless, you can find a bittersweet vine readily in the northeastern US. Its bright orange/red berries framed in bright yellow bracts stand out and look rather beautiful in the dreary roadside woods.
There is an American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), the native “good” bittersweet, and Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) the troublemaker. They are much alike in their twining habit, except that Oriental bittersweet is the more aggressive, making American bittersweet less and less common.
Close examination can tell them apart most of the time. Oriental bittersweet has nearly round leaves, and the flowers and ensuing fruit are borne in axillary clusters. American bittersweet’s leaves are longer than wide and taper to a point at the end. The flowers and berries grow at the end of a stem, not at the leaf axils. Trouble is, the two plants hybridize, and the offspring can be a little of both.
Both C. scandens and C. orbiculatus twine around trees but the exotic one can trounce through a woodland and take over the place. If it doesn’t strangle its host tree by twining around its trunk, Oriental bittersweet can overtake it and shade it out. Either way, tree loses.
Birds, rabbits, grouse, squirrels, voles and other rodents eat bittersweet. Although they look beautifully tempting, the berries are not edible for humans. Even if you manage to choke down the horribly bitter-tasting berries, they’ll probably make you sick. Leave them for the wildlife.
Wreath decorated with Oriental Bittersweet berries
Basket decorated with Oriental Bittersweet berries
Thinking about upcoming holidays? Why not decorate with bittersweet? Because of their bright color, floral arrangements, basket decorations and other floral activities make use of sprigs of berries. You too may be inspired like me, to a “Martha Stewart Moment” and collect a few twigs for bringing some color into the house. I cut some branches and used them to revitalize my wreath as well as decorate a basket.
Be extra careful however, in keeping track of the berries. Don’t inadvertently aid in the spread of this invasive plant. I worked on newspaper, and made sure that any wayward and unused berries got put in the trash – not dumped in the woods or compost pile. Better yet, burning them would have been a better idea.
So get outdoors, and look for the brightness that is there for the finding.