SPINDLE-TREE 57 



spindles, hence the popular English name of the tree. It 

 is in like manner in Germany the Spindelbaum, and its 

 name in most of the other European languages is based 

 on the same reference to the use of the tree. 



In September the curious pendant four-celled seed-vessels 

 are ripened. They are produced in great abundance, and 

 remain on the trees, if unmolested, long after the tree has 

 lost all its leaves. They are ordinarily of a bright rosy 

 pink, and of a waxen texture, but occasionally we may 

 find them pure white. They are of very quaint and 

 beautiful form, and when fully ripe open out and show 

 within their cup the brilliant orange-coloured seeds. One 

 of the French names of the plant is the Bonnet de fretre, 

 in obvious allusion to the similarity in form of the fruit 

 to the biretta, the head-dress worn by the priests of the 

 Romish Church and their imitators within the Anglican 

 fold. 



The generic name of the plant is derived from Euonyme, 

 the mother of the Furies, in allusion to the possibilities of 

 evil stored up within its gay exterior. The seeds, though 

 violently poisonous to mankind, are eaten by thrushes, 

 blackbirds, and other birds, and an oil is expressed from 

 them on the Continent that has its use in manufactures. 

 One finds the spindle tree occasionally transferred to the 

 garden and shrubbery : it is a very easy tree to rear, and 

 one wonders, in view of its great attractiveness, that it is 

 not more often found amongst other shrubs in cultivation. 



Though the specific name Europaus would seem to 

 specially identify the plant with this quarter of the world, 

 it is found not only throughout Europe, but also in Western 

 Asia and North Africa. 



