Pachysandra terminalis.commons.wikimedia.org. (Accessed 4/2014).

Pachysandra terminalis is a perennial herb, stems 10-40 cm long; evergreen ground cover, rooting at nodes, root sprouts, extensively clonal. 

Leaves alternate, 3-8 cm long, egg-shaped, with few, rounded teeth near tip, widest above middle, narrowed to base, spiraled at top of stem; leaves appear to last a little over one year, the spiral from the previous year gradually deciduous; stem naked between spirals of each year except for scattered leaf nodes. 

Flowers white small in terminal raceme. 

Fruit fleshy, white 0.7 cm wide, rarely produced. 

Wetland status: UPL. 

Frequency in NYC: Infrequent. 

Origin: Asia. 

Habitat: Escaped from cultivation, usually rooted from garden waste dumped in forest edges. Invasive, displacing native understory plants.