Celastrus

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 - 20 cm 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 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
 * 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