Wintercreeper Euonymus fortunei

Climbing Euonymus is an evergreen woody vine or sprawling shrub. The juvenile form is a procumbent, vine-like groundcover; and the adult form is a shrub. In nature, it can often be found in woods and thickets in the low mountains of its native Japan. Some cultivars (see list) may be more of a vine and others more of a small shrub, but keep in mind that the vining cultivars and some shrubs can both be invasive. Climbing Euonymus readily escapes into native forests and has no trouble dominating medium-sized trees. Climbing Euonymus is listed as invasive in North Carolina and in other states of the southeast and northeast. When used as ground cover for the showy leaves, it tends to climb if given support. As a woody vine, this plant can form new rootlets when its branches contact moist soil. In addition, when this vine climbs trees, it produces aerial rootlets along its branches. As it reaches the tops of trees or a structure it is climbing, the plant will then become a flowering and fruiting plant which increases its invasive tendencies by producing seeds. This plant is frequently damaged by deer and is salt tolerant.

There are no records of toxicity for this species of Euonymus; however, a number of plants in this genus are poisonous and caution is advised. Avoid eating any parts of this plant in large quantities. The berries in particular should not be eaten by humans. The berries are eaten by some birds, which is how the plant is spread and often how it becomes more invasive.

The size of Creeping Euonymus is variable and it may grow to 6 feet high as a shrub or spread to 20 feet as a branching woody vine supported by a wall, tree, or trellis. As a groundcover, it can be kept to several inches tall, trimmed to two to four feet as a small shrub, or kept around 15 feet as a standard vine on a trellis. The vine can reach over 60 feet if growing up a tree towards sunlight. The sub species E. fortunei radicans is particularly useful, as are the cultivars 'Emerald and Gold', 'Emerald Gaiety', 'Coloratus', and 'Kewensis.

The leaves are semi-evergreen to evergreen and do not display fall leaf color. Variegated, colored and green cultivars are available, with non-green forms tending to revert to green. The long-lasting fall berries have orange aril (pulp). Adult plants have unremarkable small quarter-inch flowers in the spring, usually greenish-white.

Creeping Euonymus prefers full sun to medium shade, moist to dry-mesic conditions, and soil containing loam, clay-loam, sand, and gravelly material. It tolerates heavy shade, is pH adaptable, and is easily transplanted from woody cuttings and tolerates a variety of soils other than wet ground.

Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: Scale and winter leaf burn can be a problem. Susceptible to anthracnose, powdery mildew, aphids, and crown gall. This plant is listed as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council

The Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center has a factsheet on common pests and diseases.

VIDEO created by Andy Pulte for “Landscape Plant Identification, Taxonomy and Morphology” a plant identification course offered by the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee.

More information on Euonymus.