CLIMBING BITTERSWEET (Celastrus scandens), a North American climbing shrub of the staff-tree family (Celas traceae), called also false bittersweet and waxwork. It grows, mostly in rich soil, from Quebec to Manitoba and southward to North Carolina and New Mexico, usually trailing on banks or small shrubs but sometimes climbing to a height of 25 ft. on trees. It has smooth, pointed leaves and small greenish flowers and matures in autumn showy clusters of orange-yellow, berry-like capsules which split open after frost, disclosing the crimson coverings (arils) enclosing the seeds. The handsome, persistent fruit is used in winter for indoor decoration. (See BITTERSWEET.)