bittersweet

Nov 23, 2019

Bittersweet berries: Facts

Just thought I’d share some facts about the bittersweet berries/plant/vine. All images are mine and were taken on my property. The facts, well, they come from somewhere else! And is noted where appropriate!

Hope you enjoy!!

• any of several vines with colorful fruit.
• genus Celastrus, in the staff tree family (Celastraceae), includes the American bittersweet, or staff vine (C. scandens), and the Oriental bittersweet(C. orbiculatus),
• woody vines grown as ornamentals.

• flowers, in whitish clusters, are followed by yellow to orange capsules, which split to reveal yellow to crimson arils enclosing the seeds
• is considered to be invasive

https://www.britannica.com/plant/bittersweet

• (Oriental bittersweet) brought over to the United States in the 1860s and has been running rampant ever since
• when left unregulated, established bittersweet vines will literally take over the landscape, smothering out native species of trees, shrubs, and plantings
• a popular fall decorating material
• https://newengland.com/today/living/pests/bittersweet-vine-friend-or-foe/

• According to the US Department of Agriculture the American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) plant has a toxicity level of “None”. Most sources, however, agree that the plant (American bittersweet) found use by Native Americans for a wide variety of medicinal purposes. The leaves, bark, and roots were used as aids for rheumatism, childbirth pains, gastrointestinal discomfort, skin ulcers, coughs, tuberculosis, toothaches, and even cancer. Whereas the inner bark was sometimes cooked into a thick soup in times of starvation and the fruits were reportedly used to make poisons. This would at the very least tend to substantiate the possibility that the plant has shown the capacity to have an effect upon the body. These uses, however, probably involved a poultice wherein the plant would have been mixed with other items and applied, or the plants constituents were boiled down concentrating the desired chemical components into a decoction. http://www.pawsdogdaycare.com/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/american-bittersweet-poisonous-pets

“Life is bittersweet. Inside our heads, if we’re lucky, we’re the same kids as we were when we were young.”     

~ Hugh Hefner

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Happy Saturday!