UW Botanic Gardens December Plant Profile Of The Spindle Tree

Each month the UW Botanic Gardens' Newsletter, E-Flora, posts in detail about a specific plant, among many other interesting posts about events and general information.

This month's featured plant is the Spindle Tree or Euonymus europaeus 'atrorubens.'. 

 

Here is the posting:

December Plant Profile: Euonymus europaeus 'atrorubens'

Found in its native Europe, Euonymus europaeus ‘atrorubens’, or spindle tree, is commonly seen as an understory shrub or small tree growing along deciduous woodland edges. Traditionally, this plant’s stems were used to make spindles to twine wool and flax into yarn. It contains many medicinal properties in its roots and bark which were used by both Europeans and the Iroquois in Northeast America and Canada, where it spread widely after introduction to the new continent. The spindle tree is currently used as an ornamental garden feature, and the cultivar ‘Red Cascade’ has won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Learn more about this month's featured plant. Family: Celastraceae / Bittersweet Family Genus: Euonymus Species: europaeus Cultivar: 'atrorubens' Common Name: Spindle Tree Location: Washington Park Arboretum: Pinetum (555-42*B & D in 38-5W) & Pacific Connections Garden (555-42*A in 6-1E) Photo by Joy Spurr