Winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei)

Synonyms: Euonymus radicans, Elaeodendron fortunei

Common Names: Climbing euonymus, Fortune's spindle

Description:

Winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei) is an evergreen woody vine from eastern Asia, planted in North America as a groundcover and long sold in the nursery trade [1][2]. It escapes from plantings to form dense evergreen mats on the forest floor and climbs trees and walls with small clinging rootlets [1]. MISIN tracks it because those mats smother native wildflowers and tree seedlings and are hard to remove [1][4].

Habit:

Winter creeper is an evergreen woody vine that trails along the ground as a dense groundcover and can climb 20 feet or higher up trees and walls, clinging with small aerial rootlets [1]. Its leathery, glossy leaves grow in pairs (opposite) and are oval with finely toothed edges and pale veins; some garden varieties have yellow-variegated leaves [1]. Because it stays green through winter, it is easiest to spot from late fall to early spring, when it stands out as a green carpet on the ground or a green-leaved vine on bare tree trunks [1].

At-a-glance cues:

1. Evergreen ? glossy, leathery leaves stay green all winter [1]
2. Leaves in pairs (opposite), oval, finely toothed, with pale veins [1]
3. Climbs trees, walls, and fences by clinging with small rootlets [1]
4. Green stems are densely covered with tiny warts [1]

Leaves:

1. Arrangement: in pairs, one leaf opposite another along the stem [1]
2. Shape: oval to elliptic [1]
3. Margin: finely toothed [1]
4. Surface: leathery, glossy, and evergreen, with pale, prominent veins; some garden varieties are yellow-variegated [1]
5. Size: small, roughly 1 to 2.5 inches (2.5 to 6 cm) long [1]

Stems:

1. Habit: an evergreen woody vine ? a trailing groundcover that can also climb, with stems reaching nearly 50 feet; sometimes shrubby [1]
2. Climbing: grips tree bark, walls, and structures with small aerial rootlets, reaching 20 feet or higher [1]
3. Texture: green stems densely covered with tiny wart-like bumps [1]

Flowers:

1. Color: small and greenish-white [1]
2. Arrangement: in loose clusters on elongated stalks [1]
3. Bloom time: early to mid-summer [1]
4. Each flower has both male and female parts [1]

Fruit and seeds:

1. Fruit type: a rounded capsule that splits open when ripe [1]
2. Color: a pinkish to reddish capsule that opens to reveal seeds wrapped in an orange coat [1]
3. Ripening: about June to July [1]
4. Dispersal: birds and small mammals eat the seeds and drop them, and water carries them; the plant also spreads vegetatively ? a single cutting or rooted fragment can start a colony [1]

Habitat:

Winter creeper is native to eastern Asia, from the eastern Himalaya to temperate East Asia, and was brought to North America as an ornamental groundcover [1][2]. USDA lists it as introduced in the US [3]. It turns up in floodplain forests, moist and dry-moist forests, streambanks, fencerows, and roadsides [1]. A big reason it spreads so well is that it tolerates full sun to heavy shade and a wide range of soil moisture, so it can move into shaded forest interiors that keep many other invasive plants out [1].

Reproduction:

Winter creeper is planted as an evergreen groundcover and creeps out of gardens into nearby woods [1]. It spreads especially easily by pieces of itself: it roots as it trails along the ground, and a single cutting or broken fragment can take root and start a new colony [1]. Birds and small mammals also eat its seeds and drop them elsewhere, and water carries seeds along streams [1].

Once it reaches a tree or a patch of light, it climbs and grows into its mature, fruiting form [4]. The fruit ripens around June and July [1]. Because it comes back from roots and fragments, the key to control is removing whole plants ? roots included ? and cutting climbing vines before they fruit.

Impact and Damage:

Winter creeper is a popular evergreen groundcover and is not known to harm people who handle it, but it does not stay where it is planted [1]. It roots as it spreads and climbs fences, walls, and trees, and because a single cutting can start a new patch, it moves easily from a yard into nearby woods [1].

In natural areas it forms a dense evergreen mat that carpets the forest floor and reduces or eliminates native ground plants, including spring wildflowers, while also drawing down the soil moisture and nutrients native plants need [1]. It climbs tree trunks as well, shading their bark. In one study, removing winter creeper let native plants and tree seedlings return ? tree regeneration had been "virtually halted" under the mat ? but native diversity fell again as the vine grew back, so control has to be repeated to hold the gains [4].

Similar species:

A few other evergreen groundcovers and vines are mistaken for winter creeper.

English ivy (Hedera helix) is another evergreen climbing groundcover, but its leaves grow one to a node (alternate) and are lobed or star-shaped, unlike winter creeper's paired, oval, toothed leaves [1].

Common periwinkle (Vinca minor) is a low evergreen trailing groundcover with paired glossy leaves, but its leaf edges are smooth, it does not climb with rootlets, and it has blue-purple flowers [1].

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is a semi-evergreen trailing and twining vine with paired oval leaves, but it twines around supports rather than clinging with rootlets, and it has tubular white-to-yellow flowers [1].

Running strawberry bush (Euonymus obovatus) is a native, low, trailing relative in the same genus, but it is deciduous ? it drops its leaves in fall ? and has warty pink capsules, unlike winter creeper's evergreen leaves [1].

Monitoring and rapid response:

Signs to watch for:

1. A dense mat of glossy, paired, evergreen leaves carpeting the ground at a yard edge or in a woodland, green all winter when most plants are bare [1]
2. Vines climbing tree trunks, fences, or walls, clinging with small rootlets [1]
3. Late fall through early spring is the easiest time to spot it, since it stays green against bare ground [1]

What you can do:

1. Pull or dig up vines by the roots in small areas, taking the whole plant ? a single cutting or rooted fragment can start a new colony [1]
2. Cut climbing vines at the base of the tree to free the trunk; the upper vine will die back
3. Bag and trash pulled material and any fruit, and do not compost cuttings ? they root easily [1]
4. Repeat over several seasons and check for regrowth from missed roots and fragments [4]
5. Natural-area crews: prioritize climbing vines and outlying patches, roll or pull the groundcover mat and remove the roots, and return each year ? one-time removal is not enough, because native diversity falls again as the vine grows back [4]

When to call a professional:

1. Large mats or heavy tree-climbing infestations that keep regrowing from roots and fragments, or infestations spreading across a forest floor [1][4]
2. For chemical control options, contact a licensed applicator or your local cooperative extension office.

Report sightings to MISIN. Help track this species' spread by submitting observations through the MISIN web site or the MISIN mobile app (Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS). Photos at multiple angles paired with a precise GPS location are the most valuable data for confirming new occurrences and triggering rapid-response review.

Credits:

1. Missouri Department of Conservation. Wintercreeper (Climbing Euonymus), Field Guide. mdc.mo.gov
2. Plants of the World Online (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz. powo.science.kew.org
3. USDA NRCS Plants Database. Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz. plants.usda.gov
4. Mattingly KZ, McEwan RW, Paratley RD, Bray SR, et al. (2016). "Recovery of forest floor diversity after removal of the nonnative, invasive plant Euonymus fortunei." Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 143(2):103?116. semanticscholar.org

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