Celastrus Explained

Celastrus, commonly known as staff vine, staff tree or bittersweet, is the type genus of the family Celastraceae; it contains over 40 species of shrubs and vines, which have a wide distribution in East Asia, Australasia, Africa, and the Americas.

Description

The leaves are alternate and simple, ovoid, and typically 5- long. The flowers are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicles; the fruit is a three-valved berry.

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.

Species

Plants of the World Online^[1] includes:

1. Celastrus aculeatus Merr.
2. Celastrus angulatus Maxim.
3. Celastrus australis Harv. & F.Muell. – Australian staff vine
4. Celastrus caseariifolius Lundell
5. Celastrus cuneatus (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) C.Y.Cheng & T.C.Kao
6. Celastrus flagellaris Rupr.
7. Celastrus franchetianus Loes.
8. Celastrus gemmatus Loes.
9. Celastrus glaucophyllus Rehder & E.H.Wilson
10. Celastrus grenadensis Urb.
11. Celastrus hindsii Benth.
12. Celastrus hirsutus H.F.Comber
13. Celastrus homaliifolius P.S.Hsu
14. Celastrus hookeri Prain
15. Celastrus hypoleucoides P.L.Chiu
16. Celastrus hypoleucus (Oliv.) Warb. ex Loes.
17. Celastrus kusanoi Hayata
18. Celastrus lenticellatus Lundell
19. Celastrus madagascariensis Loes.
20. Celastrus membranifolius Prain
21. Celastrus microcarpus D.Don
22. Celastrus monospermoides Loes.
23. Celastrus monospermus Roxb.
24. Celastrus novoguineensis Merr. & L.M.Perry
25. Celastrus oblanceifolius Chen H.Wang & P.C.Tsoong
26. Celastrus obovatifolius X.Y.Mu & Z.X.Zhang
27. Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. – Oriental bittersweet
28. Celastrus panamensis Lundell
29. Celastrus paniculatus Willd. – black oil plant, climbing staff tree, or intellect tree
30. Celastrus pringlei Rose
31. Celastrus punctatus Thunb.
32. Celastrus richii A.Gray
33. Celastrus rosthornianus Loes.
34. Celastrus rugosus Rehder & E.H.Wilson
35. Celastrus scandens L. – American bittersweet
36. Celastrus stephanotiifolius (Makino) Makino
37. Celastrus stylosus Wall.
38. Celastrus subspicatus Hook.
39. Celastrus tonkinensis Pit.
40. Celastrus vaniotii (H.Lév.) Rehder^[2]
41. Celastrus virens (F.T.Wang & T.Tang) C.Y.Cheng & T.C.Kao
42. Celastrus vulcanicola Donn.Sm.
43. Celastrus yuloensis X.Y.Mu
44. Celastrus zhejiangensis P.L.Chiu, G.Y.Li & Z.H.Chen

Notes and References

1. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A30042347-2 Plants of the World Online
2. Web site: Species Records of Celastrus . Germplasm Resources Information Network . United States Department of Agriculture . 2009-04-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090506221700/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2220 . 2009-05-06 .