THE SPINDLE-TREE. 



Emm' 1/ urns eurojxe'us L. 



It is probably only owing to its comparative rarity 

 that the Spindle-tree {Euonymus europevus L.) is 

 not more appreciated for its beauties than it is. It 

 is generally but little more than a shrub, seldom 

 exceeding ten or twelve feet in height when in 

 a wild state ; though in Forfarshire, and under cul- 

 tivation elsewhere, it reaches thirty or five-and-thirty 

 feet, with a trunk from a foot to eighteen inches in 

 diameter. The gay colouring of its autumn fruit, 

 however, draws attention to it even where it is only 

 represented by a lew small bushes. 



Our species is one of about forty belonging to the 

 genus Euonymus, which with thirty-nine other 

 small genera constitute the Order Gelastri'nece. This 

 Order of woody plants with simple leaves and small 

 flowers, the sepals and petals of which are four or five 

 in number and are arranged in an "imbricate" 

 manner, is further characterised by having a fleshy 

 and often coloured outgrowth from the coat of the 

 seed, known as an " aril." The affinities of the Order 

 seem to be most close to that of the Vines and 

 Virginian Creepers (Ampeli'dece) on the one hand, 

 and to that of the Maples, Sycamores, Horse- 

 chestnuts, and Soap-berries {Sapindd cecv) on the 

 other. 



The genus Euonymus derives its flattering name, 



41 o 



