Winter Creeper vines have climbed a few trees in the woods near the river in Eliza Howell Park, 7 or 8 trees fairly close together. The capsules of the late-ripening fruit are just now opening, revealing the bright seeds.

This year the fruit seems to be especially plentiful, with large hanging clusters.

Winter Creeper is an evergreen, a type of Euonymus native of Asia, introduced into North America as an ornamental ground cover/shrub in early 1900. It has escaped gardens and is now a spreading climbing vine in some forests.

After climbing tree trunks, it branches out, sometimes looking like a shrub several feet up (especially in the case of a broken-off dead tree, as in this photo).

Winter Creeper vines grow straight up large trunks, using small aerial roots to grasp and hold onto the bark.

The vines can grow up to 40 feet or more. When the vines are attached higher in the tree, the large lower vines sometimes hang loose from the trunk

The fruit, not recommended for human consumption, contains a single seed inside similarly colored pulp.

When the leaves of deciduous trees have fallen and the woods are acquiring the winter look, the fruit of Winter Creeper provides a festive holiday look.