Running strawberry-bush Running strawberry-bush

Euonymus americanus Linnaeus var. obovatus (Nuttall) Dippel

Shrubs 0.1–0.5 m. Stems creeping <rooting at nodes>; young branches 4-angled, not corky winged. Leaves deciduous; petiole 3–5 mm; blade obovate, 2–8 × 1.5–4.5 cm, base attenuate, margins crenate-serrate, apex acute or acuminate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, 1–5-flowered. Flowers: sepals 5; petals 5, pale green, often suffused with purple, round, 2–3 mm diam.; stamens 5; ovary spiny. Capsules pink, subglobose, 10–12 mm diam., unlobed or very shallowly 4–5-lobed, lobes clearly connate, surface spiny. Seeds subglobose, 4.5–5.5 mm; aril bright orange.

Flowering spring; fruiting summer–fall. Rich, dry, or moist woods; 100–1000 m; Ont.; Ark., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., Mich., Mo., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., W.Va.

Euonymus obovatus can be difficult to separate from E. americanus, but the rooting stems of E. obovatus clearly differentiate them.