Euonymus alatus
Winged Burning Bush
- Site: It is shade tolerant and grows under a wide range of light and soil types, pH levels and is salt tolerant. It is most successful in well drained soils, but is competitive in water logged soils and becomes stressed in soils subject to drought.
- Plant community: Winged euonymus is able to thrive in many landscape types including roadsides, open fields, open woods and mature forests.
- Invasive traits: it forms dense thickets, displacing many native woody and herbaceous plant species. Hundreds of seedlings are often found below the parent plant in what is termed a “seed shadow.” The root system forms a dense mat just below the soil surface. The combination of the dense shade provided and the tight root system makes survival of other plants beneath Euonymus impossible. It is widely disseminated by wildlife species, which spread the seeds in their droppings.
- Other: this plant was brought in as an ornamental