| Euonymus fortunei can take various forms, as a groundcover, a clinging vine or a small, mounding shrub. It is a variable species because it easily mutates. Leaf form is widely ranging, but they are evergreen, opposite and less than 1 inch long, and tend to be dark green with pronounced silvery veins. As a ground cover it tends to stay under 6 inches in height but used as a vine on a building it can scale up to 70 feet. The flowers are not showy, are greenish-white appearing in early summer. The fruits can be quite showy, borne in fall, they are pinkish red capsules that dehisce to expose the bright orange seeds. There are non fruiting forms however. This plant tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, and high moisture, except swampy, full sun to full shade and pH tolerant. It has many cultivars with a multitude of uses, depending on their form. Cultivar leaf color and shape also vary widely. To further complicate matters, the juvenile is non flowering, with different leaf form than that of the adult, behaving similarly to Hedera helix in this way. Native to China, introduced in 1907. |
