In a message dated 6/5/2003 6:01:46 AM US Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes:

I don't know bittersweet by that name and I don't know if Dad would
remember.  I think it is different than wild rose though.  I'll see what I
can find out.  Ruth


There are a couple of varieties of bittersweet vine, both native and exotic. The American Bittersweet flowers at the tips. The more showy one that we use in floral decorations is the Oriental bittersweet, non-native and very invasive. I think it was first imported by Olmsted and Vaux for landscaping Central Park in the 1850s. You can find info on it here:

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/ceor1.htm

Julip