I know that Euonymus alatus, the burning bush with the winged twigs, is an Asian native and is considered an invasive shrub here. It is illegal to import it in MA and NH. It shares its Genus, Euonymus, with over a hundred other species, some, such as E. americanus and E. atropurpureus, are native to North America and similar to E. alatus.
My experience with E. alatus is that it does spread in this yard, but is easy to control, is eaten by deer, is easy to transplant, if you wish, and is not disease-free. It is one of many shrubs with red berries at this time of year, all of which seem to be enjoyed by the birds. The birds spread these shrubs by eating the fruit and pooping out the seeds, with a dollop of fertilizer, where they perch.
The birds also spread grape vines, poison ivy and other vines by the same technique. I find the vines, native or not, to be much more ‘invasive’ than the shrubs and far harder to control.
Other non-natives in this yard include English holly, Siebold viburnum, Japanese maple and cherry trees, Asian holly, most of which have also spread on their own.
The other point about what is ‘native’ or not is that the native flora are now different than they were in the past, and will be more different in the future, all because of progressive climate change. For instance, southern magnolias, M. grandiflora, are now planted all over town, but couldn’t tolerate the winters here thirty or forty years ago.
Soon we’ll have citrus and coconuts in Vermont.
Burning bush in red and black chokecherry in orange.
More burning bush.
More red - male red-bellied woodpecker. He probably aids and abets in the spread of the invasives.
Congrats to Maizie and Judy - certified by a second pet-therapy agency.
Balfour has been with us for a year now.
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