An evergreen, trailing groundcover with 1 1/2" - 2" oval-shaped leaves that turn burgundy in fall. Excellent for erosion control, rapid growth habit.

Stems root along nodes, spreading indefinitely as a sprawling, tangled, bushy mat. Early spring pruning improves appearance. Tolerates any well-drained soil conditions. Moderately tolerant of salt. Foot traffic is tolerated, but not encouraged. Caution: invasive, should only be used in contained areas. Mature height 12-24", spacing 6-9".

Euonymus fortunei (also commonly known as Fortune's spindle) is a species of Euonymus native to China, Korea and Japan. It is a woody evergreen vine, can grow to 20 m tall, 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 which does not have climbing rootlets.

The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, 2-6 cm long and 1-3 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are inconspicuous, 5 mm diameter, with four small greenish-yellow petals. The fruit - if any - is a four-lobed pale green pod-like berry, which splits open to reveal the fleshy-coated orange seeds, one seed in each lobe.

USDA: Characteristics of Euonymus fortunei

Full sun Part sun Shade