Euonymus lanceolatus in the Cryptomeria Walk at the Bonsai Museum

Carole and Alan were talking and it turns out this is a rare plant and we have good germplasm. IThis was grown from seed wild collected in Japan. Today I "tame" collected seed so we can produce a few more plants. I'll do some cuttings too.

Superficially it looks like E. americanus the common native Strawberrybush. Deer seem to favor euonymus over just about anything else and it's getting more and more uncommon to see a mature plant in the woods. It comes back nicely from the roots after each cropping and so forms in effect a groundcover. I remember when the large twiggy shrubs covered with the distinctive strawberry fruits in the fall were regularly encountered. As deer populations have exploded most of the native undergrowth has disappeared, even the plants that weren't their favorites.