Our dormant vine is shipped with approximately 18” of top growth and is UNSEXED. We grow this vine from seed or cuttings. 'Unsexed' means the plant is not old enough to show male/female characteristics. The female produces the ornamental berries, but a male is needed for pollination; both male and female should be growing semi-close together to get the ornamental fruit that many desire. We recommend buying a few roots to increase your odds of getting both sexes. Started from seed, it can take many years to get flowers/berries.
Bittersweet is a woody perennial vine of hardwood forests found native west to the Dakotas, east to New England, and spanning south to Oklahoma, (Zones 3-8) in medium to dry soils, full to partial sun. This vine can reach up to 50 feet if it has tree trunks to twine on. If not, it will make more of a shrub-like shape and will eventually spread out over surrounding vegetation. Some may not like this aggressive behavior of the American Bittersweet, but this is nothing compared to the aggressiveness of the similar-looking
Celastrus orbiculatus, Oriental Bittersweet, also called Asian Bittersweet or Round-leaved Bittersweet, currently choking many parts of the Northeast US and strongly moving west. Birds are the primary cause of the spread of this invasive vine - they eat the fruit and disperse the seeds in their droppings, but also be wary of Nurseries selling this plant as a substitute for the American Bittersweet.
To distinguish American Bittersweet from Oriental Bittersweet, notice the placement of the flowers/berries; on the American they hang in terminal panicles of 5-60 berries whereas on the Oriental there are small clusters of 2-4 berries all along the stem. The leaves are usually rounder on the Oriental Bittersweet. Both Bittersweets have a bright red fruit that is surrounded by a yellow/orange 'jacket' when ripe.
Click here for more tips on identifying American vs. Oriental Bittersweet.
There is evidence that the two vines are hybridizing, so the true native Celastrus scandens could become extinct without stern efforts to protect it.
Seeds / Packet: 30
Seeds / Ounce: 1,800
