Euonymus phellomanus - Chinese Spindle Tree - 5 Seed Pack - NEW

Euonymus phellomanus Seeds

Chinese Spindle Tree

Euonymus commonly known as spindle or spindle tree is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. It comprises about 130 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and small trees. They are mostly native to East Asia, extending to the Himalayas, and they are also distributed in Europe, Australasia, North America, and Madagascar. 50 species are endemic to China. The flowers occur in small groups, inconspicuous and of green or yellow shades. The leaves are opposite (rarely alternate) and simple ovoid, typically 2–15 cm long, and usually with a finely serrated margin. The fruit is a pink-red four- or five-valved pod-like berry, which splits open to reveal the fleshy-coated orange seeds. The plants attract birds and the seeds are eaten by frugivorous birds, which digest the fleshy seed coat and disperse the seeds in their droppings. Many species are used for medicinal use. The wood of some species was traditionally used for the making of spindles for spinning wool; this use is the origin of the English name of the shrubs. Spindles are popular garden shrubs, grown for their foliage, the deciduous species often exhibiting very bright red autumnal colours, and also for the decorative berries. Euonymus phellomanus commonly known as Cork Tree or Chinese Spindle Tree is a large deciduous shrub which has unusually 'winged' bark as the plant ages. It produces clusters of greenish yellow inconspicuous flowers in spring followed by very showy decorative winged fruits in autumn which are unusual and will certainly cause interest as they are rich pink outside and may split open to reveal orange fruits. The leaves are green oval shaped. It is useful in a border situation especially as a background plant or for landscape planting. It requires moist well-drained soil but will tolerate some drought. Prune when required and during spring. It will grow to 2m tall and spread to a width of around 1.5m.