The Weed du Jour

You know how you pass something a few hundred, nay, perhaps a few thousand times without ever taking notice of it? Recently we discovered the vine "Bittersweet." Georgia a vine with bright red berries, and orange bracts some in late December, growing near the beach, and decided to take some for a decoration:

Someone told her it was Bittersweet, and the internet informs us that there are two different vines it could be, American Bittersweet, and Oriental Bittersweet. The Oriental version is considered invasive, since it grows better than the native, and seems to be displacing it in the wild slowly. It is also a known tree strangler (although its weaker American cousin can do it to) and in many places we see saplings being strangled by vines. Judging from the way the flowers and berries are distributed on the stems, the one we butchered for home use was an Oriental.

Now that I know what it is, I see it all over along the walk to and from the beach.