Description
Commonly called American bittersweet, is a deciduous twining woody vine that is best known for its showy red berries that brighten up fall and winter landscapes. Berry-laden branches are prized for use as indoor decorations. Rapidly grows to 20’. Fertilized female flowers give way in summer to spherical orange-yellow fruits. Fruits split open in fall to reveal scarlet fleshy berry-like seeds (arils). Fruits are poisonous if ingested, but are considered to be quite tasty by many birds. In the 1700s, plants were given the name bittersweet by European colonists because their fruits purportedly resembled in appearance the fruits of a Eurasian nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) that was known to them as bittersweet. The common name of false bittersweet also came to be used for the within species to distinguish it from the Eurasian nightshade.
Sun | H: 15 to 20′ W: 3-6′ | zone 3-8
