Starting in the 1930s or earlier, this widespread East Asian shrub has become locally frequent in suburban woods of mid-Atlantic states, especially from Va. to Mass. (and in the National Arboretum at D.C.), but it remains generally rare or absent elsewhere in North America (K, W). V. dilatatum is closely related to setigerum; both have orange or red fruit. It differs in its broadly ovate to obovate leaves (versus ovate to ovate-lanceolate) that have acute apices (versus acuminate) and pubescence on both surfaces (versus only along veins below). V. dilatatum has been cultivated at Bernheim Forest since the 1950s (Gunn 1959), where it may be escaping into adjacent woods (A. Berry, pers. comm.). Recently, Brock (2020) has found it to be locally invasive on banks of the Big South Fork at Blue Heron in MCRE (APSC); this seems to be the same population reported as "setigeum" by Weckman et al. (2002) and collected in 2004 as "lantana" for NCU. Also, T. Rounsaville (pers. comm.) observed the species during ca. 2015 near "The Gulf" on route 927 in northern MCRE.