Staff vine
Encyclopedia
The staff vines, also known as staff trees or bittersweet, genus Celastrus, comprise about 30 species of shrub
s and vine
s. They have a wide distribution in East Asia
, Australasia
, Africa
and the Americas
.
The leaves
are alternate and simple ovoid, typically 5–20 cm (2–7.9 in) long. The flower
s are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicle
s; the fruit
is a red three-valved berry
. The fruit are eaten by frugivorous
bird
s, which disperse the seed
s in their droppings. All parts of the plants are poisonous to human
s 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.
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s and vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s. They have a wide distribution in East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are alternate and simple ovoid, typically 5–20 cm (2–7.9 in) long. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
s; the fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a red three-valved berry
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
. The fruit are eaten by frugivorous
Frugivore
A frugivore is a fruit eater. It can be any type of herbivore or omnivore where fruit is a preferred food type. Because approximately 20% of all mammalian herbivores also eat fruit, frugivory is considered to be common among mammals. Since frugivores eat a lot of fruit they are highly dependent...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, which disperse the seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s in their droppings. All parts of the plants are poisonous to human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s if eaten.
In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, they are known as bittersweet, presumably a result of confusion with the unrelated Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara
Solanum dulcamara
Solanum dulcamara, also known as bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, bitter nightshade, blue bindweed, Amara Dulcis, climbing nightshade, fellenwort, felonwood, poisonberry, poisonflower, scarlet berry, snakeberry, trailing bittersweet, trailing nightshade, violet bloom, or woody...
) by early colonists. C. orbiculatus is a serious invasive
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
in much of eastern North America.
Selected species
- Celastrus angulatus Maxim. - Chinese Staff Vine
- Celastrus australis - Australian Staff Vine
- Celastrus dispermus - Orange Boxwood
- Celastrus flagellaris Rupr.
- Celastrus gemmatus Loes.
- Celastrus hindsii Benth.
- Celastrus monospermus Roxb.
- Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.Carl Peter ThunbergCarl Peter Thunberg aka Carl Pehr Thunberg aka Carl Per Thunberg was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He has been called "the father of South African botany" and the "Japanese Linnaeus"....
- Oriental Staff Vine - Celastrus paniculatusCelastrus paniculatusCelastrus paniculatus is a woody liana commonly known as black oil plant, climbing staff tree, and intellect tree . The plant grows throughout India at elevations up to 1800 m. Oil from the seeds is used as a traditional medicine in Indian Unani and Ayurvedic medicine.C...
Willd. - Peng - Celastrus pyracanthus - South African Staff Vine
- Celastrus rosthornianus Loes.
- Celastrus scandensCelastrus scandensCelastrus scandens, commonly called American Bittersweet or Bittersweet, is a species of staff vines that blooms mostly in June and is commonly found on rich, well-drained soils of woodlands. It has a sturdy perennial vine that may have twining, woody stems that are or longer and an inch or more...
L. - American Staff Vine - Celastrus stylosus Wall.
- Celastrus vaniotii (H.Lév.) Rehder