From a distance I thought this was a tree, but as we got closer we noticed it is growing over some other plants. We found some parts on the ground with berries with the outer shell split open that revealed a 4-parted berry similar to some euonymus species. It is growing in full sun in southern Ohio. Anyone know what this could be?
That first photo is awesome. The only one I found that came close to showing what that does is from the Celastrus orbiculatus Botany Photo of the Day last November. A comment there said that this species has fruit growing from the leaf axils, which is what one of your photos shows. It is the same family as Euonymous - Celastraceae.
Thank you Tyrlych and thanks wcutler for the compliment on the photo - I don't think I will ever get "photo of the day" since I always have my hand in the photo to help show scale. I always take photos without my hands as well, but I never post these. It is also good to know that I am getting better at recognizing plant families/genuses (thanks primarily to UBC and people like you!) I read about this plant "Celastrus orbiculatus" and found that this is an invasive species. According to wikipedia there is a native variety C. scandens, and they are very difficult to tell apart. I doubt I would be able to differentiate.
