Common Name: spindletree
Type: Tree
Family: Celastraceae
Native Range: Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam
Zone: 6 to 10
Height: 15.00 to 20.00 feet
Spread: 15.00 to 20.00 feet
Bloom Time: March to May
Bloom Description: Yellow-beige
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Birds
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Rabbit, Black Walnut
Culture
Best grown in moist, rich, humusy, well-drained soils in part shade. Tolerates full sun, but appreciates some afternoon shade in hot summer climates. Thrives in sun-dappled conditions.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Euonymus grandiflorus, commonly known as euonymus, is a semi-evergreen to deciduous large shrub or small tree of the spindle tree family that typically grows to 15-20’ tall, but occasionally soars to as much as 45’ tall. It is native to forests and woodlands in India, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Vietnam and China. Lustrous, oblong-elliptic to obovate-elliptic, dark green leaves (2-4 3/4” long) with pointed tips, finely toothed margins and cuneate to attenuate bases turn a showy wine-purple in fall. Four-petaled pale yellow to beige flowers in cymes (3-9 flowers per cyme) bloom in spring (March-May). Flowers are followed by showy pendulous pink fruits (loculicidal capsules) with red arils and black seeds. Fruits ripen in fall.
Genus name is an ancient Greek name referring to plants of this genus.
Specific epithet from Latin means with large flowers.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for euonymus scale. Mites, leaf miner, aphids, mealybugs and crown gall may appear. Witches’ broom, stem dieback, powdery mildew, and fungal leaf spots may appear.
Uses
Foundations. Hedge. Specimen/accent. Woodland margins.