Oriental Bittersweet
Celastrus orbiculatus
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in bottomland and riparian forests, moist upland forests and bluffs, glade margins, disturbed areas, thickets, roadsides, forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 30–60 feet
- Spread
- 5–10 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Arkansas.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to September
Recorded in 4 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Celastrus
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Antepione thisoariaVariable Antepione
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
6BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Celastrus
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Myadestes townsendiTownsend's Solitaire
- Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
- Vireo olivaceusRed-eyed Vireo
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Celastraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Green
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Forms thickets
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- September
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Forms thickets” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “30–60 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “5–10 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications