Overview
This is an upright form that grows to 4' tall or slightly larger. Foliage is dark, glossy green with whitish veins. It tends to produce copious amounts of fruit.
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Wintercreeper Euonymus
Description
Family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae are trees and shrubs comprising about 50 genera and 800 species that are sometimes climbing or vining. The leaves are simple and alternate or opposite; stipules are small and caducous or absent. The flowers are bisexual or sometimes functionally unisexual , actinomorphic , and are small and often greenish. The calyx comprises 4 or 5 usually basally connate sepals. The corolla is rarely absent or more commonly consists of 4 or 5 distinct petals. The androecium consists of 4 or 5 or rarely 10 distinct stamens that alternate with the petals. The gynoecium is a single compound pistil of 2-5 carpels, a single short style, and a superior or rarely half inferior ovary with 2-5 locules, each containing usually 2 axile ovules. An annular nectary disk surrounds and is usually adnate to the ovary. The fruit is a capsule, berry, samara, or drupe. -- Gerald Carr.
Genus Euonymus
Trees
or shrubs
, the latter sometimes scandent
. Leaves oppsite; stipules caducous
. Flowers bisexual
, 4-5-merous. Calyx flat or recurved. Disc broad, fleshy
, 4-5-lobed. Petals 4-5, rounded
, spreading
, often with coloured veins. Stamens 4-5, inserted
on the disc. Ovary sunken
in the disc; style short. Fruit a capsule, 3-5-lobed, angled
or winged
, rarely echinate
, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds 1-3 in each cell
, enclosed in a fleshy aril.
A large subcosmopolitan genus of c.
176 species in the Himalayas in Pakistan and India, China, Japan, Malayasia, Europe and N. America. Represented in Pakistan by 5 species, of these E. japonicus is cultivated.[1]
Physical Description
ID Features: Green stems. Serrated leaves. Opposite leaf arrangement. White leaf midribs.
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Only adult plants flower. Greenish-white color. 0.25" in diameter. Blooms in June. Not showy. • Bloom Period: April, May. • Flower Color: pale green
Seeds: Fruit: Dehiscent capsules. 0.33' in diameter. Orange aril on seeds. Ripens in October. Persists. Copious .
Foliage: Summer foliage: Evergreen leaves. Opposite leaf arrangement . Leaf length is 1" or less. Serrated leaf margin. Dark glossy green leaf color with whitish veins. Extreme variable, depending on cultivar. • Fall foliage: No fall color.
Size/Age/Growth
Size: to 4' tall or slightly larger.
Landscaping
Landscape Uses: Groundcover. Vine . Wall cover . Massing. Hedge . Bank cover. Rock garden. • Liabilities: Euonymus scale. Anthracnose . Powdery mildew . Aphids. Crown gall . Cultivars revert.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Easy to propagate. Transplants readily. Tolerant of most conditions except wet sites. Full sun to shade. PH adaptable.
Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Celastranae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Celastrales
()
- Baskerville, 1839
- Family:
Celastraceae
()
- R. Brown, 1814
- bittersweet
- Subfamily:
Celastroideae
()
- Subfamily:
Celastroideae
(
- Family:
Celastraceae
(
- Order:
Celastrales
(
- Superorder:
Celastranae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
A tentatively accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Euonymus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 119 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
E. alata (Burning Bush) · E. alata 'Chicago Fire' (Burning Bush) · E. alata 'Compacta' (Cork Bush) · E. alata 'Fire Ball' (Cork Bush) · E. alata 'Monstrosus' (Burning Bush) · E. alata 'Rudy Haag' (Burning Bush) · E. alatus (Winged Euonymus) · E. alatus var. apterus (Winged Euonymus) · E. alatus 'Compacta' (Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Compactus' (Dwarf Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Odom' (Little Moses® Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Pipzam' (Pipsqueak Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Rudy Haag' (Rudy Haag Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Select' (Fireball Burning Bush) · E. alatus 'Timber Creek' (Chicago Fire Burning Bush) · E. americana (Brook Euonymus) · E. americanus (American Strawberry-Bush) · E. aptera (Corky Spindletree) · E. atropurpurea (Eastern Wahoo) · E. atropurpurea var. atropurpurea (Eastern Wahoo) · E. atropurpurea var. cheatumii (Eastern Wahoo) · E. atropurpureus (Burning Bush) · E. atropurpureus atropurpureus (Eastern Burningbush) · E. atropurpureus var. cheatumii (Eastern Wahoo) · E. bungeana (Winterberry Euonymus) · E. bungeana 'North Platte' (Winterberry Euonymus) · E. bungeana 'Pink Lady' (Winterberry Euonymus) · E. bungeanum (Winterberry) · E. bungeanus (Winterberry Euonymus) · E. carnosus (Fleshy-Flowered Spindletree) · E. clivicolus (Sail-Fin Molly) · E. europaea (European Euonymus) · E. europaea 'Aldenhamensis' (European Euonymus) · E. europaea 'Atrorubens' (European Euonymus) · E. europaea 'Red Ace' (European Euonymus) · E. europaea 'Red Cap' (European Euonymus) · E. europaeus (European Euonymus) · E. fortunei (Climbing Euonymus) · E. fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz. 'Emerald Leader' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz. 'Emerald'n Gold' (Emerald 'n Gold Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Golden Prince' (Golden Prince Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei var. fortunei (Winter Creeper) · E. fortunei var. minimus (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei var. radicans (Winter Creeper) · E. fortunei var. vegetus (Bigleaf Wintercreeper) · E. fortunei 'Acutus' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Blondy' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Canadale Gold' (Canadale Gold Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Coloratus' (Purple Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Emerald & Gold' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' (Emerald Gaiety Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Gold Splash' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Green Lane' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Harlequin' (Climbing Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Interbolwji' (Blondy® Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Ivory Jade' (Ivory Jade Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Kewensis' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Longwood' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Moonshadow' (Moonshadow Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Moon Shadow' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Niagara Green' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Sarcoxie' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Sheridan Gold' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Silver Queen' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Sunny Lane' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Sunshine' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Sunspot' (Sunspot Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Surespot' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. fortunei 'Wolong Ghost' (Wintercreeper Euonymus) · E. hamiltoniana (Hamilton's Spindletree) · E. hamiltonianus var. sieboldianus (Japanese Spindle Tree) · E. japonica (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica var. Aureo Marginata (Golden Euonymus) · E. japonica var. Greenspire Bekko (Greenspire Euonymus) · E. japonica'Aureo-marginata' (Box Leaf Euonymus) · E. japonica'Aureo-variegata' (Gold Spot Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Bekkomasaki' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Chollipo' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica'Golden Maiden' (Golden Maiden Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Green Spire' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Microphyllus Butterscotch' (Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Ovatus Aureus' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Rokujo' (Rokujo Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Rykujo' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Silver Princess' (Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonica 'Sunny Delight' (Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonicus (Japanese Spindle Tree) · E. japonicus 'Aureo-Marginatus' (Golden Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Aureovariegatus' (Gold Spot Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Butterscotch' (Butterscotch Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Chollipo' (Chollipo Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Grandifolius' (Japanese Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Green Spire' (Green Spire Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Microphyllus' (Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Microphyllus Variegatus' (Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Moness' (Silver Princess" Boxleaf Euonymus) · E. japonicus 'Silver King' (Silver King Euonymus) · E. kiautschovica (Creeping Strawberry Bush) · E. kiautschovicus (Creeping Strawberry Bush) · E. kiautschovicus 'Manhattan' (Manhattan Euonymus)
More Info
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Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed March 28, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 712090
Footnotes
- "Euonymus". in Flora of Pakistan Page 3.. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
