Comparing American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) to Oriental Bittersweet (C. orbiculatus) 9/3/24

We have a lot of Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) in our woods, which is common throughout the eastern half of the United States. It is a non-native invasive weed that threatens our native plant communities. Sharing a similar range in the U.S. is the native American Bitterweet (Celastrus scandens). It is important to know how to differentiate the two if you are trying to control invasive species. We try in this video to show each species side-by-side so that it is clear which is which.
Oak Haven is a 60-acre private woodland in Southwestern Ohio near Cincinnati. Jim and Julie Varick both have degrees in Botany and over thirty years of experience in managing natural areas. They enjoy sharing their enthusiasm for the natural world and would like to build relationships with like-minded people to share knowledge and resources. Please leave your comments!

[@causasui8185]

Thank you for sharing this. My understanding is that the 2 species readily hybridize. That's why it's important to remove the non-native (C. orbiculatus) because it's changing the gene pool. For the same reason, it's important to remove the non-native white mulberries because it hybridizes with our native red mulberry (Morus rubra).

[@jenniferlutes8000]

This is so timely! We were taking a walk and came across some bittersweet today. Unfortunately it is the non native version, which was easy to identify based on the video

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks for commenting!

[@RandyRasa]

I've never seen the Oriental Bittersweet in the wild, but we have quite a bit of American Bittersweet here in west-central Missouri.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Nice! Keep an eye out for the non-native and remove it if you see it.

[@Cjinglaterra]

More or less the same area as you, and that’s been my experience as well.

[@Maria-yf8fp]

Does it also choke the tree it's on?