Celastrus scandens L.

vernacular American bittersweet — species · Celastraceae

USDA: CESC
GBIF: 3169171
Rank: species

American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) — Platephotograph · Rob CurtisCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Vine
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Celastraceae R. Br.
Genus: Celastrus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 5 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 5 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Low
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 30–60 in/yr
pH range: 5–7.5
Root depth: 18 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Thicket Forming
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 15 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Orange
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 26,080
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 5 counties across 2 states/territories.

Montana view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Golden Valley 30037

Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CESC ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3169171 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z