Flora of North America species comparison

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Euonymus fortunei

climbing euonymus, climbing spindle-tree, winter creeper
Stems

prostrate to erect, climbing by adventitious roots;

young branches terete, not corky winged.
Leaves

persistent;

petiole 5–10 mm;

blade lanceolate, ovate, elliptic, to broadly obovate-elliptic, 1–9 × 0.5–5 cm, base cuneate, acute, obtuse, to rounded, margins crenate-serrate, apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate.
Inflorescences

axillary, 5–15-flowered.
Flowers

sepals 4;

petals 4, white to pale green, oblong, 3–4 × 2–3 mm;

stamens 4;

ovary smooth.
Capsules

straw colored to orange, globose, 6–8 mm diam., unlobed or very shallowly 4-lobed, lobes clearly connate, surface smooth.
Seeds

ellipsoid, 4–6 mm;

aril orange.
Vines

to 20 m.
2n

= 32.

Euonymus fortunei
Phenology Flowering summer; fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Moist woods, stream banks, riverbanks, disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; ON; e Asia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion

Euonymus fortunei is widely planted as an ornamental and has escaped widely. Plants grow horizontally until they encounter a vertical surface like a rock, wall, or tree, which they then climb using adventitious roots. They sometimes form dense mats over other vegetation, excluding other plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 123.
Parent taxa Celastraceae > Euonymus
Sibling taxa
E. alatus, E. americanus, E. atropurpureus, E. europaeus, E. obovatus, E. occidentalis
Synonyms Elaeodendron fortunei, E. hederaceus, E. kiautschovicus
Name authority (Turczaninow) Handel-Mazzetti: Symb. Sin. 7: 660. (1933) — (as Evonymus)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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