THE SPINDLE-TREE. 



. EUONYMUS EuROPiEUS. 



Natural Order — Celastrace^. 

 Class — Tetrandria. Order — Monogyni^ . 



Few persons can have walked through a wood- 

 land district in September or October, without 

 noticing among the brush-wood, a straggling shrub 

 with remarkably green branches, narrow, smooth 

 leaves, and four-lobed seed-vessels, which split 

 vertically and disclose as many seeds, which are 

 wrapped up in a bright scarlet membrane. This 

 is the Spindle-tree, a common shrub throughout 

 the whole of Europe, sometimes attaining a height 

 of from fifteen to twenty -five feet, but more gene- 

 rally ranking only as a hedge-bush. Its flowers 

 appear in May : they are of four petals, small, and 

 of a whitish green colour. The leaves and bark 

 are acrid and poisonous. The wood, like that of 

 the Cornel, is of a very close grain, and being 

 used for the same purposes as that tree, is often 

 called by the same names, Prickwood and Dog- 

 wood. It has long been used for making spindles, 

 whence it derives its name. In Ireland it is com- 

 monly called Peg-wood, from its being made into 

 the pegs used by shoemakers. Loudon says, that 

 it was formerly employed in the manufacture of 

 musical instruments, and that it is still occa- 

 sionally used for the keys of pianofortes. In 

 Scotland it is employed with the dark wood of 



