Interesting, I just read this. I had a burning bush for years, it didnt look like this, it just got huge. We would cut it in half and it could come right back. I've never seen it grow like this, wild. Invasive or not, it looks gorgeous.

We get wahoo growing in the ravines here.

https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/wahoo

If you frequently trimmed your burning bush, it would have responded by getting denser, and you probably didn't get to appreciate the "open" branch structure that it has when left alone. Pretty shrub indeed (although only in the fall) - pity indeed that it is invasive.

They don’t look like anything the rest of the year tho.

J Williams, you are right, but I LOVED the way it looked in the woods. Its was stunning. I want to plant them in my woods just for this! LOL

There are lots and lots of shrubs that turn nice colours, flower, have fruit and less weird structure to them.

And please if your heart is set on an eounymus, try the natives versus the invasive. The color is good there also.

Please use native Euonymus or blueberries/Vaccinium or Fothergilla or one of the native azaleas or one of the native Viburums. All have nice fall color, either red or orange, and they don’t cause the problem that the burning bush dowith displacing native plants and not feeding native critters. They mostly also have decorative flowers and/or berries or colored twigs or some combination that makes them interesting for a much longer season than the burning bush Euonymus.

you will get better recommendations... if you give us a big city name ....

z5 alone is about half the US.. and very divergent ...

as well as suggestions of possible natives in your area ...

ken

as to form ....

many understory trees and shrubs ... also grow in full sun ... and might look different in each ...

part of what you are seeing.. might be the effect growing in shade .... a much more open form... to use the available light ...

and also ... commercially grown plants are shaped.. or sheared.. not only for uniformity at point of sale ...... but also for shipping purposes ...

so we can NOT rule out a suggested ID.... based on form alone ....

and finally ... note that thru creative pruning .... rather than shearing... you can create any look/form you want .....

ken

ps: just dont plant the invasive one.. please ....

Photo in your original post shows exactly why it is not desirable to plant this species in your area.

The photo is beautiful Embothrium. Thats not the reason not to plant it. If its invasive, thats a reason.

He meant that the prevalence of these shrubs to spring up wherever the birds may carry the seeds to - which the photo amply indicates - is the reason why not to plant. The photo is a clear indication of this shrub's invasive tendencies.

Invasive plant are much better than no plants at all.

Not true windberry.

You should come here and see how invasive plants like this Euonymus alata are wiping out all the spring ephemerals. Along with that plant from hell, the forests are also being choked to death by non native bush honeysuckles and buckthorns, Japanese honeysuckles, callary pear, privets, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, motherwort, elaeagnus, black locust, ect, ect. Check yourself from now on. Do you want to live without some of these?

http://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2015/3/12/an-extinction-in-chicago

Come on, it is not fault of "invasive" plants that conditions for natives become less and less suitable.

It is when the invasive exotic shrubs are the cause of the deterioration in conditions for the native wildflowers.

Usually they are more aggressive and outcompete everything, hence “invasive”, they are like terminator plants. They also make people complacent, because they fill up a space, but they may offer very little value to surrounding wildlife.

" Come on, it is not fault of "invasive" plants that conditions for natives become less and less suitable. "

LOL! It certainly is! That's the entire threat behind the proliferation of non-native invasive species. They spread so aggressively and often far more rapidly than natives and out-compete and overwhelm them. It is their presence that makes the conditions less suitable.