Euonymus fortunei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Celastrales
Family: Celastraceae
Genus: Euonymus
Species:
E. fortunei
Binomial name
Euonymus fortunei

Euonymus fortunei, the spindle, Fortune's spindle, winter creeper or wintercreeper, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to east Asia, including China, Korea, the Philippines and Japan.[1] E. fortunei is highly invasive and damaging in the United States, causing the death of trees and forest in urban areas.[2]

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1863 as Elaeodendron fortunei by Nikolai Turczaninow,[3][4] who named it in honour of the Scottish botanist and plant explorer Robert Fortune. It was transferred to the genus, Euonymus, in 1933 by Heinrich von Handel-Mazzetti.[3][5]

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.[6]

Varieties

There are two or three varieties:

  • Euonymus fortunei var. fortunei (syn. var. acutus). China, Korea
  • Euonymus fortunei var. radicans (Sieb. ex Miq.) Rehd. (syn. E. radicans). Japan
  • Euonymus fortunei var. vegetus (Rehd.) Rehd. Northern Japan (Hokkaidō), doubtfully distinct from var. radicans (Bean 1973)

Distribution and habitat

It has an extensive native range, including many parts of China (from sea level to 3400 m elevation), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.[1] It resembles Euonymus japonicus, which is also widely cultivated but is a shrub, without climbing roots.[7] It also is related to a variety of similar species, including Euonymus theifolius, or Euonymus vagans and also a number of named "species" which are found only in cultivation and better treated as cultivars.[1] Its habitats include woodlands, scrub, and forests.[8]

Cultivation

Euonymus fortunei is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, with numerous cultivars selected for such traits as yellow, variegated and slow, dwarfed growth. It is used as a groundcover or a vine to climb walls and trees. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:[9]

  • 'Emerald Gaiety'[10]
  • 'Emerald 'n' Gold'[11]
  • 'Emerald Surprise'[12]
  • 'Kewensis'[13]
  • 'Wolong Ghost'[14]

Plants propagated from mature flowering stems (formerly sometimes named "f. carrierei") always grow as non-climbing shrubs. Some popular cultivars such as 'Moon Shadow' are shrub forms.

Most of the cultivated plants belong to var. radicans (Huxley 1992). It is generally considered cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9, and is considered an invasive species in some parts of the world, notably the eastern United States[15][16] and Canada.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Euonymus fortunei (Turczaninow) Handel-Mazzetti". Flora of China.
  2. ↑ "You Should Be Concerned When This Plant Goes Vertical". Missouri invade plants task force. August 15, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Euonymus fortunei". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  4. ↑ Turczaninow, P.K.N.S. (1863). "Eleodendron fortunei". Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 36 (1): 602.
  5. ↑ Handel-Mazzetti, H. (1933). Symbolae Sinicae, Botanische Ergebnisse der Expedition der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien nach Sudwest-China 1914/1918. Vol. 7. p. 660.
  6. ↑ Zouhar, Kris (2009). "Euonymus fortunei. In: Fire Effects Information System". U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Euonymus japonicus Thunberg". Flora of China.
  8. ↑ "Euonymus fortunei in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  9. ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 37. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety'". Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald 'n' Gold'". Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Surprise'". Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "Euonymus fortunei 'Kewensis'". RHS. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Euonymus fortunei 'Wolong Ghost'". RHS. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "Profile for Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Maz. var. radicans (Siebold ex Miq.) Rehder (winter creeper)". PLANTS Database. USDA, NRCS. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  16. ↑ Swearingen, J.; K. Reshetiloff; B. Slattery & S. Zwicker (2002). "Creeping Euonymus". Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
  17. ↑ "Euonymus fortunei (wintercreeper)". Invasive Species Compendium. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International.
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