American Bittersweet

The American Bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, is a most adaptable vine, with orange and red berries that retain color when cut and dried in fall. It needs both male and female plant to produce the beautiful fruit, only the female plants will produce fruit. Plants are unsexed. The small greenish-white flowers are produced in June in short clusters. During the fall season bittersweet vines put on a display few other plants can rival, with fruit that is a round, orange-yellow capsule which opens, disclosing the scarlet-colored seed pod. The foliage turns a beautiful bright yellow. It likes partial to full sun, but does best fruit in full sun, and prefers lean soils with regular moisture.