WAHOO (Burning Bush) 

 Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq. 



June The wahoo or burning bush is remarkable at two 



Bottomland woods seasons of the year — in early June when it blooms, 



and in autumn when it fniits. There is nothing 

 else quite like the walioo, nothing else which gTows as a low tree and bears 

 small maroon flowers, no other tree in autumn which is decorated with 

 a host of little pink lanterns. Even its Indian name is odd, easy to 

 remember, tyi)ical of an American ])lant in American woods. "AVahoo*' is 

 derived from a Dakotan Indian word. 



The wahoo is one of the few shrubs with opposite twigs, leaves, and 

 Ijuds. This is a mark to look for at seasons when neither flowers nor fruits 

 name the plant at once. The leaves are oval and finely toothed; they 

 look a good deal like those of bittersweet, to which it is closely related. 

 The flowers come in May or early June. They burst on thin, much- 

 branched sprays from the axils of the leaves — small, four-petaled, maroon 

 llowers and round little buds. Like the flowers of l)ittersweet. those of 

 wahoo are of two sexes on separate trees, so that there must be trees of 

 l)oth sexes in order for the fniiting trees to bear. 



They are little noticed until autumn. Then when the bittersweet is 

 orange and the ])awpaw leaves in the bottomland woods are like pale yel- 

 low silk and drift to the ground, the fruits of the wahoo suddenly make 

 their presence known. They hang like little Oriental lanterns on slender 

 stems, fruits with a ])urple-pink shell whicli splits to reveal scarlet seeds 

 hanging on white threads. The fruits renmin on tb.e low trees for some 

 time, but are not eaten by many creatures, though small rodents seem 

 to relish them. The dried bark of the root is a strong cathartic, and has 

 been known to poison cattle that eat bark or twigs. 



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