See text Celastrus, commonly known as staff vine, staff tree or bittersweet, is the type genus of the family Celastraceae; it contains over 40 species of shrubs and vines, which have a wide distribution in East Asia, Australasia, Africa, and the Americas.

[2] The leaves are alternate and simple, ovoid, and typically 5–20 cm (2.0–7.9 in) long.

The flowers are small, white, pink or greenish, and borne in long panicles; the fruit is a three-valved berry.

In North America, they are 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.