Years ago I planted 4 northern (hardy) kiwi plants, 3 female and 1 male. After 6-7 years, I pulled them up because only one year did they bear any fru...
Knowledgebase
Identity of an invasive vine #879877
Asked August 02, 2024, 11:07 AM EDT
Years ago I planted 4 northern (hardy) kiwi plants, 3 female and 1 male. After 6-7 years, I pulled them up because only one year did they bear any fruit and those never got ripe. Our lot is about 1 1/2 acres. Our entire lake front is now covered with similar vines and they have spread throughout our lot and to both adjacent lots. They almost completely covered a 50-60 ft white pine and have complete covered several of the neighbors' bushes and small trees. I have never seen any flowers, fruit or berries. The roots are reddish. I've considered oriental bittersweet, but never had berries. Could these be hardy kiwi?
Muskegon CountyMichigan
Expert Response
Based on your description, this does sound like oriental bittersweet. Would you be able to send more photos that are closeups of the leaves, stem, and roots. I would also like to see a photo of the shrubs/trees being covered. If it is easier you can email them to me directly at <personal data hidden>
Thanks for getting back to me. The only thing my research on this led me to was oriental bittersweet, which I have never seen. But then thinking about it, this all started after we planted hardy kiwi and the leaves and twining stems are similar. And I read on line that it was considered invasive in a couple of areas on the east coast. My wife has been obsessed with getting rid of this and every year she faithfully cuts off all that she can find. A few years ago our son cut off all of the stems growing up our white pine, but they were so entwined and so large that he didn’t try to pull them down. The photos of dead stems are from those. Two years ago our neighbor hired a landscaper who brought in a crew and removed all the vines from their trees and grubbed out the roots. That seemed to work; they have not come back just across the deer fence that you see in the pictures. The smothered shrub in from the neighbor’s on the other side of our lot. I hope the photos help.
Paul, I am convinced these photos show bittersweet (Celastrus spp.) and not kiwi (though it's possible you have both occurring). Check out this reference from Massachusetts, on page 12 it details how to tell the two bittersweet species apart from kiwi. Bittersweets have orange roots, like your photo (not mentioned in the reference). Kiwi does not. There is an invasive bittersweet, Oriental, and an native, American. They can hybridize, so it is possible that is what is happening here. The aggressive nature is more suggestive of Oriental, but the leaf shape and bark are more similar to American. Both species have been noted in the MI herbaria records as occurring in Muskegon Co. (MI Flora). If this is not a hybrid population we would need flowers to key them out.
