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Celastrus)
About 30, including:
Celastrus angulatus - Chinese Staff Vine
Celastrus australis - Australian Staff Vine
Celastrus dispermus - Orange Boxwood
Celastrus pyracanthus - South African Staff Vine
Celastrus orbiculatus - Oriental Staff Vine
Celastrus scandens - American Staff Vine
The staff vines, also known as staff trees, genus Celastrus, comprise about 30 species of shrubs and vines. They have a wide distribution in eastern Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Americas. The leaves are alternate and simple ovoid, typically 5-20 cm long. The flowers are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicles; the fruit is a red three-valved berry. The fruit are eaten by frugivorous birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. All parts of the plants are poisonous to humans if eaten.
In North America, they are sometimes 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.