Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sorting Out Euonymus
A discussion has been going on at various blogs, and in the comments, about North American native Euonymus. I thought it might be a good idea to pull the information together here where it's more visible. Ki and Layanee posted recently about Euonymus americanus, and we began a dialog about the various North American Euonymus species and how to distinguish them.
Several years ago, while walking on the Big Rocky Run trail, I saw a Euonymus americanus with its exotic bright red fruit capsules. I had walked by the same plant all spring and summer and never noticed it at all, but I could hardly fail to notice it when the fruit capsules ripened. I had to have it for my garden after seeing the fruit, so I ordered one from Niche Gardens. This is the first year I've gotten a good display of the fruit capsules, and I think this is the third year since I planted it.
As it turns out, all the native Euonymus have attractive fruit. (And several non-native ones, but I'll get to that in a minute.) There are apparently 4 native species - E. americanus, E. atropurpureus, E. obovatus, and E. occidentalis. The last one is native to the West Coast states; I'm going to concentrate on the East Coast species here.
Euonymus americanus is a sparse, rangy shrub of moist woodlands. The leaves are opposite, as are all Euonymus, and the stems are green when the plant is young, but may become fissured with age. The spring flowers are greenish-white. The fruit capsule is 5-parted and the outer covering has a prickly appearance. The capsule splits open to reveal 5 orange-red berry-like structures known as arils.
Euonymus atropurpureus is a taller, more attractive shrub than E. americanus. The spring flowers are dark dusky purple. The fruit capsule is 4-parted and the outer covering is smooth, with 4 red arils.
Euonymus obovatus is similar to E. americanus, but is a low-growing, spreading shrub, and not as common. There appears to be confusion over the identity of this species, as this account says that the fruit is commonly a 3-parted capsule, while the photos in the previous link show a flower that is clearly 5-parted.
Further complicating matters, a non-native species has escaped cultivation in the Northeastern states. Euonymus europaeus looks very much like E. atropurpureus (at least the fruit capsules do), and is naturalized in many of the same places were E. atropurpureus occurs. There are many named cultivars of E. europaeus - 'Red Cascade' is one of the most popular - but seemingly few available here in the US.
As long as we're talking about Euonymus, I have to mention Kate's beautiful Turkestan Burning Bush. Go see it if you haven't already.
And for a look at a truly impressive collection of Euonymus, check out the web page of this collector in the Netherlands.
The fruits of E. atropurpureus and E. europaeus remind me of bittersweet, which is a member of the same family - Celastraceae.
Until I learned of E. americanus, I was only aware of E. fortunei and E. alatus, both of which are known primarily for their foliage, not their fruit. E. alatus has been getting all kinds of bad press for being a non-native thug. I've seen it growing wild in the woods around here so maybe the reputation is deserved. I still think it's pretty.
I hope this has shed some light on the various species in the genus Euonymus, especially those native to Eastern North America. Please let me know if I've overlooked something or gotten it wrong.
Labels: euonymus, native plants
posted by Entangled at 9:44 PM ::: Permalink
:::
Leave a Comment
11
comments from:
Yolanda Elizabet,
Ki,
kate,
Entangled,
Entangled,
Ki,
Layanee,
Entangled,
jodi,
Annie in Austin,
Entangled,
