This is an ecologically noxious--yet commercially addictive--woody vine from China and Japan. It has been widely planted as the tetraploid (and likely apomictic) cultivar 'Coloratus' and now naturalized across east-central states (Elam & Culley 2023). Plants in North America may be referable to var. radicans (Siebold ex Miq.) Rehder. The obscure name E. hederaceus Champ. ex Benth. had priority over fortunei (Y), but the name fortunei has been conserved (Cao & Ma 2006; Flora of China Vol. 11). See also notes under kiautschovicus. J.S. Ma (in Y) and W have provided recent notes on nomenclature and spelling in Celastraceae. In Ky. fortunei is much more widespread than the mapped colls. The sight records of SE are mapped here as open dots. With ignorant promotion and virtually no restriction, this species has spread rapidly through the Ohio Valley since the 1970s, especially in the Bluegrass region, where it has become one of the most serious alien threats to native woodlands and residential landscapes. It appears to do best on calcareous soils, remaining much less common in Appalachian regions of Ky. and further east (W). There is much general interest in the comparative ecology of evergreen vines like E. fortunei. Such plants are virtually absent from the native flora of east-central states, except for Bignonia capreolata. But E. fortunei, Hedera helix, Vinca minor and Lonicera japonica have become locally abundant aliens. A common feature of these species is their high potential to be used as forage by ungulates, at least in winter (Metcalfe 2005, Schierenbeck 2005, Van Uytvanck & Hoffman 2009). In Ky. areas with high deer populations tend to be much less invaded by E. fortunei (Fargione et al. 1991, Campbell 2013a); moreover, cattle and horses will keep it out of woodland pastures. Experiments are needed to see if ungulates can be used to control such plants, especially in farmed and urban land where populations of native ungulates have been highly reduced or disrupted. However, Ashton & Lerdau (2008) have shown that alien vines are often able to recover more rapidly from herbivory than native vines. The reduction in fires across eastern states might also be an important factor in the invasive behavior of these vines, although the submesic woodlands where they mostly occur are often hard to burn. E. fortunei does not appear to be particularly sensitive to fire (Mattingly et al. 2016), but its typical habitat may not generally burn anyway after large patches are established; foliage of Hedera appears to be more flammable.