Celastrus orbiculatus

Celastrus orbiculatus - Oriental Bittersweet

General:
The oriental bittersweet is native to China and Japan. There it grows as a strongly twisting climbing plant in trees and bushes up to 10m high. The plant is mostly dioecious, so there are male and female plants. The female plants form bright yellow capsules that reveal a bright red core when they burst.

Care as a bonsai:
The oriental bittersweet is very popular as a bonsai because of its very attractive fruits. These stick to the plant even in winter and are a very special ornament. In addition, the oriental bittersweet also has an interesting growth with barked bark, a bright yellow autumn color and usually a beautiful root attachment forms. The plants are also very vigorous and undemanding in terms of site conditions. In winter, however, the roots of the oriental bittersweet should be protected from frost. The plants usually bloom at 3 years of age. Fruits only form on female plants and there must be a male plant as a pollinator. But there are also multisexual plants with male and female or hermaphrodite flowers.

Note:
The "female" young plants offered by us were selected because of the clear fruit set. "Male" plants were chosen because of the predominantly male flowers. Nevertheless, as described above, there are also multisexual specimens.
For a successful pollination it is necessary to put both sexes together during the flowering period. It is important that the individuals also bloom at the same time and that there are appropriate pollinators (insects!). Otherwise, pollen can also be transferred to the female flowers with a brush.