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Species Name: Celastrus orbiculatus

Common Name(s): Asiatic Bittersweet,Oriental Bittersweet

Native Look-alikes:

Celastrus scandens

Sources for description:

Gray's Manual of Botany

Hortus Third

Plant Biology:

Vegetative growth: YES

Phenology:

% Seed germination: mean rate: 70% (Clement et. al. 1991)

Viable seed/fruit: 4.2 (Clement et. al. 1991)

Length of time seeds are viable:

Bloom dates: May to early June in CN (The NatureConservancy, 1993).

Fruit ripening: September in CN (The Nature Conservancy,1993).

Dispersal: Birds, small mammals, humans (The NatureConservancy, 1993).

Current plant distribution:

Maine to Louisiana and the southeastern Great Plains (TheNature Conservancy, 1993).

Plant habitat:

Soil:

Light: Tolerates light in mature forests, but flourishes insunnier locations.

Climate Zone:

Preferred ecosystem (meadow, upland, etc.): Upland meadows,thickets, young forests, open woods, roadsides, fence-rows,alluvial woods, and beaches (The Nature Conservancy, 1993). Undisturbed mesic and dry-mesic forest (Illinois NaturePreserves Commission, 1990)