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Article: The Most Unwanted List; Rethinking the Merits of Two Rampant Vines
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- December 21, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Gardeners have long trumpeted the beauty of two vines grown for
their berries. Now, environmentalists warn, the allure is a fatal
attraction.
The danger in this case is not to gardeners or their plots, but to
the wilderness beyond, which is being choked by these rampant
beauties once they break free of their garden boundaries.
The two berries singled out are Celastrus orbiculatus, usually
sold as oriental or Asian bittersweet, and porcelainberry, another
Asian import first cultivated here in 1870. It has the unwieldly
botanic name of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata.
In books such as "The National Arboretum Book of Outstanding
Garden Plants" (Simon & Schuster, 1990), both plants are recommended ...