American bittersweet, climbing bittersweet

A perennial vine native to Québec. The vigorous species produces fairly low-keyed flowering in the summer, but offers a fall-season spectacle rich in color. Its green foliage becomes golden yellow, but it is the fruiting that is most decorative: female plants bear yellow or orangey capsules that open up and reveal fleshy red arils that cover the seeds. The fruit is toxic for humans, but consumed by certain birds. This climber can kill saplings it wraps itself around, so the best thing is to grow it on a fence, a trellis or a solid pergola.

Height: 7 m
Width: 1.5 to 3 m
Type of growth: voluble leaf stocks
Flowering: greenish, in June
Fruiting: orange-yellow and red, in the fall; persistent in winter
Attractions for wildlife: attracts birds and pollinators