Western spindle-tree Western spindle-tree

Shrubs 2–6 m. Stems erect or scandent; young branches 4-angled, not corky winged. Leaves deciduous; petiole 3–15 mm; blade ovate to obovate, 4–10 × 2–7 cm, base rounded to narrowly cuneate, margins serrulate, apex obtuse, rounded, or acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, 1–5 flowered. Flowers: sepals 5; petals 5, brownish purple <sometimes spotted>, round or oblong, 3–6.5 × 2–4 mm; stamens 5; ovary smooth. Capsules pink to purple, subglobose to obovoid, 11–12 × 12–15 mm, moderately 3(–5)-lobed, lobes clearly connate, surface smooth. Seeds obovoid, 6–8 × 4–5 mm; aril orange to red.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): w North America.

Lower Taxa

• Celastraceae R. Brown
• Euonymus occidentalis var. occidentalis
• Euonymus occidentalis var. parishii (Trelease) Jepson