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Euonymus wilsonii Sprague

Modern name

Euonymus wilsonii Sprague

An evergreen shrub up to 20 ft high, of lax or scandent habit, quite free from down in leaf and twig; young shoots slender. Leaves 3 to 6 in. long, 1 to 134 in. wide, lanceolate, wedge-shaped at the base, gradually tapered at the apex to a long slender point; shallowly and rather distinctly toothed; conspicuously veined beneath; stalk 14 to 12 in. long. Fruits four-lobed, borne on a main-stalk 112 in. long; they are clothed with conspicuous, awl-shaped spines 15 in. long, and are altogether about 34 in. across; aril yellow.

Introduced from Mt Omei in W. China by Wilson in 1904, and now growing vigorously in the collection at Kew. It is distinct from cultivated spindle-trees in the remarkable hedgehog-like fruits.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

† E. echinatus Wall. – This native of the Himalaya as far west as Kashmir is, like E. wilsonii, a climbing species with prickly fruits. In cultivation by 1827, it is figured in Bot. Mag., t.2767, but is now rare in cultivation.

Genus

Euonymus

Other species in the genus