Euonymus fortunei

Naturalized and invading into forests in the Finger Lakes region. While it is legal to purchase and use in a garden in NY state, it is illegal to introduce it into a free-living state or to put it in a place where it could be expected to escape. It is invasive in much of the Eastern US. It may appear as a trailing ground cover, a mounding shrub or a climbing vine. Variegated and purple-leaved forms exist. Young stems are green and the central leaf vein is distinctly light.