Celastrus orbiculatus
NPPA pest plant
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Climbing spindleberry; oriental bittersweet
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Hairless woody vine, deciduous with bright gold leaves in autumn; leaves alternate, serrate; flowers inconspicuous, green; fruit globose, 3-valved, yellow when ripe then splitting to reveal bright red arils surrounding the seeds. Reputedly, all parts are poisonous.
Flower colours
Green
Detailed description
Deciduous, hairless climber to 12 m high. Roots suckering. Stems round, woody, greyish-brown, layering. Young twigs green, often with sharp 1-2 mm spines. Leaves alternate, roundish, 5-10 cm long, finely serrated, yellowing before falling. Flowers insignificant, pale green. Seed capsule round, 6-8 mm diameter, yellow to orange, exposing scarlet arils. “Flowers are small, greenish-yellow, and usually become unisexual by abortion or reduction of male or female parts, thus the plants are usually dioecious. Occasional vines develop both unisexual and perfect flowers and are then termed polygamo-dioecious. Another reported variation is occasional monoecious plants, i.e. with both male and female flowers on the same vine.” http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=156
Similar taxa
The deciduous foliage is most evident in evergreen canopies in autumn when it turns golden yellow. Celastrus is closely related to Euonymus, but can be separated by the alternate leaves. Also similar is Maytenus boaria, but this species lacks petioles on the leaves.
Habitat
Terrestrial. This aggressive, perennial, woody vine climbs on rocks and trees and sometimes covers the ground and vegetation (Hutchison 2000).
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
November
Year naturalised
1981
Origin
NE temp Asia (Japan, Korea, China)
Reason for introduction
Ornamental - the flexible stems are used to make wreaths.
Tolerances
Shade- and cold-tolerant in New Zealand, growing wild, e.g. near Taihape, Taupo, Turangi.
Life cycle and dispersal
Seedlings can appear far from parent plants as seed is spread by birds. Most often seen in disturbed sites - forest edges and gaps, scrub or road sides.
Propagation technique
Perennial. This species spreads vegetatively by underground roots that form new stems. Also reproduces via seed (Hutchison 2000). Shade tolerant and seedlings may stay suppressed for some time before release by disturbance (Hutchison 2000).
Other information
Etymology
celastrus: From the Greek kelastros, an evergreen tree.
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CELORB