Euonymus alatus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Celastrales |
Family: | Celastraceae |
Genus: | Euonymus |
Species: | E. alatus |
Binomial name | |
Euonymus alatus | |
Euonymus alatus, known variously as burning bush, winged euonymus, winged spindle, and winged spindle-tree, [1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to central and northern China, Japan, and Korea.
It is a popular ornamental plant in gardens and parks due to its bright pink or orange fruit and attractive fall color: The common name "burning bush" refers to its bright red fall color. The cultivars 'Compactus' [2] and 'Fire Ball' [3] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [4]
This deciduous shrub grows to 6.1 m (20 ft) tall, often wider than tall. As with the related Euonymus phellomanus , the stems are notable for their four corky ridges or "wings". The word alatus (or alata, used formerly) is Latin for "winged," in reference to the winged branches. These structures develop from a cork cambium deposited in longitudinal grooves in the twigs' first year, unlike similar wings in other plants such as Quercus macrocarpa . [5] The leaves are 2–7 cm (3⁄4–2+3⁄4 in) long and 1–4 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) broad, ovate-elliptic, with an acute apex. The flowers are greenish, borne over a long period in the spring. The fruit is a red aril enclosed by a four-lobed pink, yellow, or orange capsule
All parts of the plant are toxic by ingestion, causing severe discomfort. [6]
Euonymus alatus′s native distribution extends from northeastern Asia to central China. [1] [7] Besides central and eastern China, Euonymus alatus also appears in Korea, in Japan, and on the island of Sakhalin in Russia. [8] In its native areas, it occurs in forests, woodlands, and scrublands from sea level to an elevation of 8,900 ft (2,700 m). [8]
Euonymus alatus is not native to North America. It was first introduced in the United States in the 1860s [1] and is found in New England and from Illinois south to northern Florida and the United States Gulf Coast. [9] It also is found in southeastern Canada. [10]
Generally cultivated for its ornamental qualities, attraction to wildlife, and ability to adapt to urban and suburban environments, [1] the shrub commonly is used in foundation planting, hedges, and along highways and commercial strips. [11] Sales across the United States are in the tens of millions of dollars every year. [11]
The corky winged stems are used in traditional Chinese and traditional Korean medicine to treat conditions such as cancer, hyperglycemia, and diabetic complications. [12] Chemicals that have been isolated from the plant include flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, lignans, cardenolides, phenolic acids, and alkaloids. [12]
Euonymus alatus is regarded as an invasive species of woodlands in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, where it can outcompete native vegetation and disrupt local ecosystems. [10] [13] It is currently[ when? ] considered an invasive species in 21 U.S. states,[ citation needed ] and its importation and sale is prohibited in the U.S. states of Maine, [14] Massachusetts, [15] New Hampshire, [16] Pennsylvania,[ citation needed ] and Vermont. [17]
Dr. Thomas Ranney of North Carolina State University at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River, North Carolina, developed a new seedless cultivar named Fire Ball Seedless (Euonymus alatus NCEA1) which became available to wholesale growers in the spring of 2024 as the first seedless cultivar of the shrub on the market. [10] [18] Seedless cultivars could allow the phasing out of sales of seeded versions of the shrub and reduce its tendency to spread invasively. [10]
Berberis aquifolium, the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to western North America. It is an evergreen shrub growing 1–3 meters tall and 1.5 m (5 ft) wide, with pinnate leaves consisting of spiny leaflets, and dense clusters of yellow flowers in early spring, followed by dark bluish-black berries.
Euonymus is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family Celastraceae. Common names vary widely among different species and between different English-speaking countries, but include spindle, burning-bush, strawberry-bush, wahoo, wintercreeper, or simply euonymus. It has about 140 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, small trees and lianas. They are mostly native to East Asia, extending to the Himalayas, and they are also distributed in Europe, Australasia, North America, and Madagascar. Fifty species are endemic to China.
Dasiphora fruticosa is a species of hardy deciduous flowering shrub in the family Rosaceae, native to the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere, often growing at high altitudes in mountains. Dasiphora fruticosa is still widely referenced in the horticultural literature under its synonym Potentilla fruticosa. Common names include shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, bush cinquefoil, shrubby five-finger, widdy, kuril tea and tundra rose.
Dictamnus albus is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. It is also known as burning bush, dittany, gas plant or fraxinella. This herbaceous perennial has several geographical variants. It is native to warm, open woodland habitats in southern Europe, north Africa and much of Asia.
Euonymus japonicus is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to Japan and Korea.
Kerria japonica, commonly known as Japanese kerria or Japanese rose, is a deciduous, yellow-flowering shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to China and Japan. It is the only species in the genus Kerria. In the wild, it grows in thickets on mountain slopes. Japanese kerria has been used for medicine and is also planted in gardens. A double-flowered cultivar, K. japonica 'Pleniflora', is commonly called bachelor's buttons.
Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry.
Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala, the Amur maple, often treated as a distinct species Acer ginnala, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject, in parks, or as a street tree.
Buddleja davidii, also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush, or orange eye, is a species of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae, native to Sichuan and Hubei provinces in central China, and also Japan. It is widely used as an ornamental plant, and many named varieties are in cultivation. The genus was named Buddleja after Reverend Adam Buddle, an English botanist. The species name davidii honors the French missionary and explorer in China, Father Armand David, who was the first European to report the shrub. It was found near Yichang by Dr Augustine Henry about 1887 and sent to St Petersburg. Another botanist-missionary in China, Jean-André Soulié, sent seed to the French nursery Vilmorin, and B. davidii entered commerce in the 1890s.
Euonymus fortunei, the spindle, Fortune's spindle, winter creeper or wintercreeper, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to east Asia, including China, Korea, the Philippines and Japan. E. fortunei is highly invasive and damaging in the United States, causing the death of trees and forest in urban areas.
Chaenomeles speciosa, the flowering quince, Chinese quince or Japanese quince, is a thorny deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub native to eastern Asia. It is taller than another commonly cultivated species, C. japonica, usually growing to about 2 m. The flowers are usually red, but may be pink, white or green. The fruit is a fragrant, hard pome that resembles a quince.
Burning bush is described in the Book of Exodus and used as a symbol of various Presbyterian denominations.
Ligustrum ovalifolium, also known as Korean privet, California privet, garden privet, and oval-leaved privet, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae. The species is native to Japan and Korea.
Viburnum plicatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae, native to mainland China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The Latin specific epithet plicatum means "pleated", referring to the texture of the leaves.
Spiraea japonica, the Japanese meadowsweet or Japanese spiraea, is a plant in the family Rosaceae.
Kolkwitzia amabilis, commonly known as beauty bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. It is the sole species in genus Kolkwitzia. It is a deciduous shrub grown as an ornamental plant. In China, where it originated, the plant is called wèi shí (蝟实).
Buddleja madagascariensis, the smokebush or Madagascan butterfly bush, is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. It is a substantial evergreen shrub with fragrant yellow flowers through autumn and winter.
Lespedeza thunbergii is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Thunberg's bushclover, Thunberg's lespedeza, and shrub lespedeza. It is native to the eastern Himalayas, China, Korea, and Japan.
Euonymus phellomanus is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to China. It is one of several species within Euonymus called spindle or spindle tree. A substantial deciduous shrub growing to 2–4 m (6.6–13.1 ft) tall by 2.5 m (8.2 ft) broad, it produces insignificant yellow-green flowers in May followed by brilliant pink fruits in autumn. The fruits sometimes break open to reveal bright orange seeds. A notable feature is the rough corky bark which with age develops "wings" clothing the length of each branch. A similar effect is seen in the related Euonymus alata. This feature gives rise to a name occasionally used, the corktree.
Euonymus sachalinensis, the flat-stalked spindle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to Japan, China, Korea, and the Island of Sakhalin. Growing to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) tall and broad, it is a deciduous shrub notable for its leaves turning red in autumn, and its red fruit which splits open to reveal orange seeds. Exceptional specimens, such as the one in the Hørsholm Arboretum, Copenhagen University, can become trees up to 4 m (13 ft) in height.