| Staff vine | ||||||||||||
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 Celastrus scandens | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| About 30, including: Celastrus angulatus - Chinese Staff Vine |
The staff vines, also known as staff trees or bittersweet, genus Celastrus, comprise about 30 species of shrubs and vines. They have a wide distribution in eastern Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Americas.
The leaves are alternate and simple ovoid, typically 5-20 cm long. The flowers are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicles; the fruit is a red three-valved berry. The fruit are eaten by frugivorous birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. All parts of the plants are poisonous to humans if eaten.
In North America, they are known as bittersweet, presumably a result of confusion with the unrelated Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) by early colonists. C. orbiculatus is a serious invasive weed in much of eastern North America.