Celastrus
Open capsule fruits of Celastrus striangularis
The Bittersweet ( Celastrus ) are a genus of climbing shrubs of the family of spindle tree family ( Celastraceae ). The natural range is in Asia, America, Australia, Madagascar and Fiji. Some species are used as ornamental plants.
Description
The Bittersweet are mostly deciduous rarely evergreen, climbing or twining shrubs with terete or angular branches, which are covered with numerous elongated or round, bright Korkporen. The cord can be chambered. The buds are 2-4 mm long, ovate to oblong- ovate and have numerous, often pointed scales. The leaves are alternate. The stipules are small, linear and fall off early. The leaf blade is usually ovate, hairy or bald with almost ganzrandigem, serrated or notched leaf edge. She colors in the fall in most species yellow.
The inflorescence is terminal or achselbürtig and growing sympodial, thyrsenartig or einzelblütig. The flowers are usually unisexual, rarely bisexual and rarely distributed dioecious. You are fünfzählig, greenish or yellowish white. The discus is membranous or fleshy, annular or cup-shaped, very weakly or five lobes. The stamens are short, the anthers open lengthwise to the center of the flower out. The ovary is upper constant, dreifächrig and each subject one to two upright ovules are formed. The fruit is a 8-10 mm thick, approximately spherical, rarely oblong, leathery capsule, which opens along the three compartments and containing one to six seeds. The seeds are elliptical, rich in protein and almost completely enclosed by a fleshy, red to orange - red aril.
The chromosome number is 2n = 46
Dissemination
The natural range of the approximately 30 species is in Asia, North and South America, Australia, Madagascar and Fiji, where they occur from humid forests to dry thickets in tropical to temperate climate.
System
The Bittersweet ( Celastrus ) are a genus of the family of spindle tree family ( Celastraceae ), in which it is assigned to the subfamily Celastroideae. The genus was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum first scientifically valid. The chosen means of genus Celastrus name was used before Linnaeus for different evergreen species and derives from the Greek kelastra for an evergreen tree from.
The genus is divided into two subgenera:
- Celastrus subg. Celastrus
- Celastrus subg. Racemocelastrus. Ding Hou
It includes about 30 species, the Plant List are the following ways:
- Celastrus aculeatus Merr.
- Edged Bittersweet ( Celastrus angulatus Maxim. ); the species occurs in China
- Celastrus caseariifolius Lundell
- Celastrus cuneatus ( Rehder & EHWilson ) CYCheng & TCKao
- Celastrus flagellaris Rupr. ; the species is found in Far Eastern Russia, China, Japan and Korea
- Celastrus franchetianus Loes.
- Celastrus gemmatus Loes. ; the species occurs in China and Taiwan
- Celastrus glaucophyllus Rehder & E.H.Wilson
- Celastrus hindsii Benth. the species occurs in Asia, including Japan and the Northern Mariana Islands
- Celastrus hirsutus Comber
- Celastrus hookeri Prain
- Celastrus hypoleucoides P.L.Chiu
- Celastrus hypoleucus ( Oliv. ) Warblers. ex Loes.
- Celastrus kusanoi Hayata
- Celastrus lenticellatus Lundell
- Celastrus liebmannii Standlschmaus.
- Celastrus madagascariensis Loes.
- Celastrus membranifolius Prain
- Celastrus microcarpus D.Don
- Celastrus monospermoides Loes.
- Celastrus monospermus Roxb. ; the species occurs in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China
- Celastrus novoguineensis Merr. & L.M.Perry
- Rundblättriger Bittersweet ( Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. ); Home: Asia
- Celastrus pachyrachis Lundell
- Celastrus panamensis Lundell
- Celastrus paniculatus Willd.; the species occurs in Asia, Malaysia's, the Philippines and New Caledonia
- Celastrus pringlei Rose
- Celastrus punctatus Thunb.; the species occurs in China, Japan and Taiwan
- Celastrus richii A.Gray
- Celastrus rosthornianus Loes. ; the species is found only in China
- American Bittersweet ( Celastrus scandens L.); the species occurs in North America
- Celastrus strigillosa Nakai
- Celastrus stylosus Wall. ; the species occurs in China and in tropical Asia
- Celastrus subspicatus Hook.
- Celastrus vaniotii ( H.Lév. ) Rehder; the species is found only in China
- Celastrus virens ( FTWang & Tang ) CYCheng & TCKao
- Celastrus vulcanicolus Donn.Sm.
- Celastrus xizangensis Y.R.Li
Use
A few species are cultivated as ornamental plants and used as ornaments for walls, arbors and pergolas. The fruit is stored for long in the winter.