Euonymus latifolia seed

LATIN NAME: Euonymus latifolia

COMMON NAME: Broad-Leaved Spindle Tree

The broad-leaved spindle tree is a handsome, upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree of the woodlands, and its fine, broad, oval, finely toothed leaves and its small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers, followed by the fine, four-lobed, pink or reddish capsules of the glossy, orange-coated seeds, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the garden. It grows as an upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching up to four metres or so, with the upright, branching stems bearing the opposite, broad, oval, pointed, finely toothed leaves and, through the late spring, the small, inconspicuous, greenish flowers in the small clusters, followed by the fine, four-lobed, pink or reddish capsules that open to show the glossy, orange-coated seeds. It is a species of the flowering shrub in the spindle tree family, and it is native to the woodlands of the Europe and the western Asia, while it is grown as a treasured ornamental plant, and it is known as the broad-leaved spindle tree.

In the spindle tree family it is the broad-leaved European member of a clan known for the hard, fine-grained wood and the brightly sealed seeds.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The broad-leaved spindle tree stands in the autumn-plant research of the European woodlands as one of the fine berry-bearing shrubs of the season, and the botanists have mapped its place among the euonymus of the region. The seed biology has its own interest, since the glossy, orange-coated seeds are a classic example of the way the spindle trees dress their seeds for the birds, and the wildlife ecologists have watched the autumn flocks take them. The horticulturists have studied the pink capsules and the autumn leaf colour for the garden, and the growers of the woodland shrubs keep the species in their catalogues for the four-season interest.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the autumn garden, the broad-leaved spindle tree is the shrub that closes the season in colour. The small, greenish flowers feed the insects of the late spring, the pink, four-lobed capsules open to show the glossy, orange-coated seeds that the birds of the autumn take, and the dense, leafy form gives cover and shelter through the year. The hard, fine-grained wood has served the small turnings and the spindles of the old crafts. The seeds are not for eating, and the plant is best kept as an ornamental. Pink-capsuled, orange-seeded and autumn-lit.

Put the seeds into a bag of damp peat and keep it in the fridge for a cold spell, then press them onto the surface of pots of gritty, lime-free soil and just cover them with a fine sprinkling of grit, keep the pots cool and evenly moist in a sheltered spot, and the first leaves will show in time, each one a beginning of the pink and orange display.