SERVICES OFFERED
All of Mornin' Wood furniture and decor is made from pieces we find in nature and our given our unique artistic interpretation. We invite potential clients to use their imaginations and co-create with us!
Custom Natural Wood Furniture & Designs
Our primary building material is oriental bittersweet vines.
The hardiness and veracity of this woody vine makes for the most beautiful and natural designs. Since is not a native species and does quite a bit of damage to the indigenous trees we feel we are helping to manage a problem while we bring these beautiful creations into your home or business. All the material we use is collected in nature. Each piece we bring you had its conception on a hike, a walk, a kayak trip where we see it and say " Wow! That would make a great..........." With oriental bittersweet there's hours of painstaking cutting and fighting our way through thorny vines just to get the pieces home to see what they want to be. Each piece is made with love to bring you something that's absolutely one of a kind.
Driftwood
We are always on the lookout and spend lots of time outdoors. It's so much fun collecting the pieces and then taking them home to see what they want to be. you can choose from our creative interpretations or tell us what you'd like us to create for you.
Oriental Bittersweet:
Celastrus orbiculatus
NATIVE RANGE
Eastern Asia, Korea, China and Japan
DESCRIPTION
Oriental bittersweet is a deciduous woody perennial plant which grows as a climbing vine and a trailing shrub. Stems of older plants 4 inches in diameter have been reported. The leaves are alternate, glossy, nearly as wide as they are long (round), with finely toothed margins. There are separate female (fruiting) and male (non-fruiting) plants. Female plants produce clusters of small greenish flowers in axillary clusters (from most leaf axils), and each plant can produce large numbers of fruits and seeds. The fruits are three-valved, yellow, globular capsules that at maturity split open to reveal three red-orange, fleshy arils each containing one or two seeds. The abundance of showy fruits have made Oriental bittersweet extremely popular for use in floral arrangements.
NOTE: Because Oriental bittersweet can be confused with our native American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) which is becoming less and less common, it is imperative that correct identification be made before any control is begun.
ECOLOGICAL THREAT
Oriental bittersweet is a vigorously growing vine that climbs over and smothers vegetation which may die from excessive shading or breakage. When bittersweet climbs high up on trees the increased weight can lead to uprooting and blow-over during high winds and heavy snowfalls. In addition, Oriental bittersweet is displacing our native American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) through competition and hybridization.
DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES
Oriental bittersweet currently occurs in a number of states from New York to North Carolina, and westward to Illinois. It has been reported to be invasive in natural areas in 21 states (CT, DE, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, TN, VA, VT, WI, and WV) and at least 14 national parks in the eastern U.S.
HABITAT IN THE UNITED STATES
Oriental bittersweet infests forest edges, woodlands, fields, hedgerows, coastal areas and salt marsh edges, particularly those suffering some form of land disturbance. While often found in more open, sunny sites, its tolerance for shade allows oriental bittersweet to invade forested areas.
BACKGROUND
Introduced into the U.S. in the 1860s as an ornamental plant, oriental bittersweet is often associated with old homesites, from which it has escaped into surrounding natural areas. Oriental bittersweet is still widely planted and maintained as an ornamental vine, further promoting its spread.
BIOLOGY & SPREAD
Oriental bittersweet reproduces prolifically by seed, which is readily dispersed to new areas by many species of birds including mockingbirds, blue jays and European starlings. The seeds germinate in late spring. It also expands vegetatively through root suckering.