Winter creeper
Euonymus fortunei
Winter creeper,Japanese Euonymus,Spreading Euonymus,Wintercreeper,Wintercreeper Euonymus
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Description
It is an evergreen shrub which grows as a vine if provided with support. As such it grows to 20 m (66 ft), climbing by means of small rootlets on the stems, similar to ivy (an example of convergent evolution, as the two species are not related). Like ivy, it also has a sterile non-flowering juvenile climbing or creeping phase, which on reaching high enough into the crowns of trees to get more light, develops into an adult, flowering phase without climbing rootlets. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, 2–6 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with finely serrated margins. The flowers are inconspicuous, 5 mm in diameter, with four small greenish-yellow petals. The fruit is a smooth, dehiscent capsule with reddish arils.
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Taxonomy
Order
Celastrales
Family
Celastraceae
Genus
Euonymus
Characteristics
Bloom Time
Summer
Plant Type
Ground Cover, Poisonous, Shrub, Vine
Lifespan
Woody
Flower
Small, greenish white flowers. The flower is about 1/4 inch with four petals which may be dome shaped or flat. Axillary cymes (adult form). Greenish-white, < 1/4". Appear in July.
Fruit
A dihiscent capsule, pinkish to reddish and 0.3 in., splits to expose seeds with an orange aril.
How to Grow
Sunlight
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day), Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day), Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Benefits
Attracts
Bees
Songbirds