Winter Creeper (Euonymus fortunei)
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Miller, J.H., E.B, Chambliss, N.J. Loewenstein. 2010. A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests. General Technical Report SRS-119. Asheville, NC. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 126 p.
Contents |
Plant
Evergreen woody vine climbing to 70 feet (22 m) and clinging by aerial roots or rooting at nodes, or standing as a shrub to 3 feet (1 m) in height. Leaves thick and dark green or green- or gold-white variegated on green stems. The nonflowering juvenile climbing phase, upon reaching high enough into the crowns of trees, develops into a flowering phase that does not have climbing rootlets. Pinkish-to-red capsules splitting open in fall to expose fleshy orange seeds.
Stem
Twigs stout, lime green, and hairless becoming increasingly dusted and streaked with light-gray reddish corky bark. Patches or lines of protruding aerial roots grow on lower surfaces or where touching supporting structures. Branches opposite, leaf scars thin upturned white crescents, and branch scars jutting and containing a light semicircle. Older stems covered with gray corky bark becoming fissured and then checked.
Leaves
Opposite, broadly oval, moderately thick, with bases tapering to petiole. One to 2.5 inches (2.5 to 6 cm) long and 1 to 1.8 inches (2.5 to 4.5 cm) wide. Margins finely crenate, somewhat turned under, to wavy. Blades smooth glossy, hairless, dark green with whitish veins above and light green beneath. Some varieties variegated, with white or golden margins. Petioles 0.15 to 0.4 inch (0.4 to 1 cm) long.
Flowers
May to July. Axillary clusters of small greenish-yellow inconspicuous flowers at the ends of Y-shaped stems, each flower 0.1 inch (2 to 3 mm) wide. Five petals. Pistils soon elongating with fruit.
Fruit and seeds
September to November. Dangling paired or single pinkish-to-red capsules, 0.2 to 0.4 inch (5 to 10 mm) long, splitting to reveal 4 tightly clustered seeds with orange-to-red fleshy coats.
Ecology
Forms dense ground cover and can climb trees, eventually overtopping them. Climbing vines produce fruit. Cold and shade tolerant, occurring under dense stands but avoiding wet areas. Colonizes by trailing and climbing vines that root at nodes, and fleshy-coated seeds spread by birds, other animals, and water.
Resembles
Resembles the larger-leaved species of blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) but their leaves are alternate. Also resembles native partridgeberry (Mitchella repens L.), a creeping vine with opposite oval or cordate leaves less than 1 (2.5 cm) inch long and wide, white twin flowers and red berries; and the nonnative vincas (Vinca spp.), trailing vines with similar opposite leaves but margins are rolled under and flowers violet-to-blue pinwheels.
History and use
Introduced from Asia in 1907. Ornamental ground cover.
Distribution
Found throughout the region except FL, LA, TX, and OK with scattered dense infestations in every other State. Especially frequent in MS, AL, NC, KY, and central VA.
Management strategies
- Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts and seedlings. Bag and dispose of plants and fruit in a dumpster or burn.
- Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
- Pull, cut, and treat when fruit are not present.
- Repeated cutting to groundline commonly recommended for control.
- Injury of the leaves by a string trimmer immediately prior to herbicide spraying can improve control with those lacking soil activity.
- Cut all vertical climbing stems to prevent fruiting and spread of seed by birds.
- Burning treatments are suspected of having minimal effect.
Recommended control procedures
- When nontarget damage is not a concern, thoroughly wet all leaves (until runoff) with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant (July to October for successive years): Tordon 101* ‡ as a 3-percent solution (12 ounces per 3-gallon mix) or Tordon K* ‡ as a 2-percent solution (8 ounces per 3-gallon mix).
- When safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, apply Garlon 4 or a glyphosate herbicide as a 4-percent solution (1 pint per 3-gallon mix) in water with a surfactant, preferably in the fall a month before expected frost, and repeat in the spring to regrowth.
- For large vines, make stem injections using Arsenal AC*, Garlon 3A, or a glyphosate herbicide using dilutions and cut-spacings specified on the herbicide label (anytime except March and April).
* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.
‡ When using Tordon herbicides, rainfall must occur within 6 days after application for needed soil activation. Tordon herbicides are restricted use pesticides.
Images
 Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org December |  Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org August |  Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org May |  Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org May |
 Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org May |  Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org May |  Photo by James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org December |
