CELASTRINEiE 



SPINDLE TREE, Euonymw europceus. 



Hedges, thickets, shrubberies. A native shrub of rather straggling habit, 

 made attractive in autumn by the fine tints of the foliage and the bright 

 orange-coloured covering of the seeds. May, June. 



Flowers greenish-white, proterandrous, in a dichasial cyme; peduncles 

 axillary, 1-2 ins. long, 3-5 flowered ; Calyx small, 4-cleft ; Petals 4, obovate, 

 imbricate; Stamens 4, alternate with petals, inserted into glands on a 

 flat fleshy disk, half as long as petals ; Ovary superior, 4-celled, style 1 , stigma 

 4-lobed ; Fruit a 4-lobed, 4-celled capsule, pale crimson, fleshy ; seeds with 

 a bright orange-coloured arillus ; ripe in October. 



Leaves opposite, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 1 j— 5 ins. long, shortly petiolate, 

 finely serrated, acute or acuminate, glabrous, stipules small, caducous. Autumn 

 tints crimson and gold. 



A deciduous shrub, 5-10 ft. ; or a tree, 20 ft. ; Twigs opposite, square, 

 smooth, green, fetid ; Bark grey, smooth ; Buds sub-opposite, short, slightly 

 4-angled bud scales, glabrous, green, margins and tips red ; Wood hard, 

 tough ; used for skewers, turnery, drawing-charcoal, and finer kinds of gun- 

 powder. 



Native of Britain. English name refers to time when the wood was used 

 for making spindles ; other common names are Skewerwood, Pegwood, and 

 Prickwood ; also sometimes called Dogwood. Leaves often stripped by gre- 

 garious larva- of Small Ermine Moth (Hyponomcuta padella). 



JAPANESE SPINDLE TREE, Euonymus japonieus. 



Gardens. Thrives well near sea, and is a very useful plant for hedges in 

 towns. It is not hardy in the north. April. 



Floxvers white, small, in a many-flowered dichotomous cyme; axillary 

 peduncles flattened ; Petals orbicular, fringed ; Fruit a capsule. 



Leaves oblong, sharply serrated, acuminate, dark glossy green. 



An evergreen shrub, 10-20 ft. ; Branch-lets pendulous, slightly compressed. 



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