41ARNOLDIAA continuation of theBULLETIN OF POPULAR INFORMATIONof the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard UniversityVOLUME 2 OCTOBFR 30, 1942 Nums~as 8-9EUONYMUSTHI’; ~·arious plants belonging to the Euonymus clan are not to he consideredas constttutiny one of those "neglected" groups ~t-htch should be grown morein our gardens. On the contrary, there are probably too may- forms of Fuon~ musa~ atlable from nurseries now. A resume of nursery catalu~ues vhou that approxi-mately thirty different species and ~·ariettes can be purchased in this country, andtt ts certainly doubtful if all of these are of sufficient ornamental lalue to makethem worth while. Some of the most common are the evergreen ~-tnes, of course,while others are the taller growing trees and shrubs. The evergreen types areBalued for their foliage, whtle the dectducus types are valued chtefl~- for theirbrilliantly colored fruits and the bright autumn color of their fohage.Most of the deciduous forms, like F,rrnnymzr,s alatn, F. yedoensi.c and F.. sanguineohave foliage which turns a brilliant scarlet in the fall. On the other hand, a fewlike E. Rougeann and F,. lance~’olin turn a pale yellow in the fall. Still others likeF. europaen retain thew green leaves in the fall considerably lon~er than mostshrubs.The fruit ts conspicuous chiefly because of the bright colored capsule (usuallyred or pink) which opens in late September or in October, disclosin,~ the brightorange or red flesh~· co~ ertng~ of the seed, called the aril. Sometimes, as tn thecase of F.. Rnngeana semipersisten.s, the capsule is light pink, and the aril is a deeporange. In other instances, as in the case of T..s·nngtzinen, the capsule is a deepred, and in still others (F,. europaea and F. e. atror2zbens~ the eapsule is a vtvid redand the aril is bright orange, making an excellent color combinatton.The fruits of a few color early in the fall and drop shortly afterward. ~uch forexample would be F,. Irrt3f’olzr~, F,. sachalinen.sis and F..sanguinen. In others, thefruit remains on the plant a considerable time m the fall lending much ornamentalinterest, as for example E. B~cngeana ,semipersistens. The flowers of most are incon-spicuous and are hence of no ornamental value.42A few of the Euonymus are grown for their form or habit of growth. Fuon,z~mu.salata, for instance, has a typically horizontal method of branching, and its varietyconzpacta is valued for its low, dense habit. On the other hand, E. europaea andits varieties are vigorously upright, while E. Bungeana and its variety semipersistensis a small tree, with broad, spreading, almost pendulous branches. Unfortunatelymost of these plants are susceptible to an especially pernicious scale, the Euony-mus scale, and unless this is kept in check by effective spraying, serious difficultyis encountered in growing Euonymus effectively in the garden. I do not mean toblack-list all Euonymus. However, I do think it advisable to study their respec-tive characteristics carefully and select only a few which may be best adapted toornamental usage.Growing in the Arboretum are species from North America, Europe, China andJapan. Popularly called the spindle-tree this name probably belongs to F. europaeaa native of Europe, for the wood is very hard and in earlier times was used inmaking spindles. Because this species has been in cultivation so long, there area number of horticultural varieties, some of which are very much worth while andsurpass the original species in beauty.The American Euonymus are three in number, E. americana, often called thestrawberry-bush because of its prickly bright red fruits; E. atropurpurea, calledthe Wahoo; and E. obovata, a little ground cover or procumbent shrub. Thou",rhthese are used in naturalistic plantings, they are not sufficiently outstanding inthew performance in the Arboretum to be considered as valuable ornamentals.Since thirty-seven of the Euonymus are growing in the Arboretum collections,it may be w ell to note those which are domg best.TreesOne of the most common of the Euonymus in American gardens is E. europaPn,a large shrub or small tree. When grown from seed, this plant varies consider-ably, so much so that at least ten varieties have been named. The best in thegroup is F,. europaea intermedia which first appeared in 18~8. This variety has verydense foliage, larger leaves than the species, and excellent annual crops of darkred fruits that are much larger and darker-colored than the type. Frequentlywhen E, europaea is grown from seed, the fruit of the resulting plants is a poorpink, hence decidedly mediocre in color. The variety intermedia is much superior,the fruits being the darkest red of all Euonymus. Other varieties of E. europaealike atrorubens (not to be confused with E. e. atropzirpacrea which has purplishlea~ es) and aldenha~nensis also have fruits of more vivid color than the species. Allshould be propagated asexually. An interesting form of F. europaea in the Arbore-tum is a definitely glohe-shaped form-a plant now ten feet tall with smgle four-foot trunk topped by a definitely globose head about six feet in diameter. Thisplant originally came from the Hesse nurseries in Germany in 1909 and doeshave ornamental possibilities, though it is not available from nurseries. All va-PLATE VIII. Showin~ the variations in leaves and buds of some Euonymus species.1. E. kiautschov~ca ~. E. alata 3. F~. americana 4. E. nana 5. E. yedoensis 6. E. bul~arica7. E. sachalinensis H. E. sanguinea 9. E. macrophylla l0. E. sachalinensis l E. latifolia12. E.yedoensis 13. E.Maackii l.l. E.europaea 15. E.alata 16. E.mkoensis 17. E bul~arica44rieties of Is. europaeo retain their leaves very late in the fall, this being an imr>or-tant character.Another tree form is E. Bungeann semipersistens, a wide spreading, small treevalued because it is one of the last deciduous trees in the Arboretum to drop itsleaves in the fall. Added to this important feature is the fact that it is coveredwith a wealth of pale pink fruits, which open late and remain on the tree wellinto the winter.Fuonymus Maackii and l,’. ,sangrrirren are two other valued tree Euonymus. Es-pecially are they important for the fact that their leaf buds are among the firstto open in the spring, showing considerable color about the middle of March.Though Euonymus as a group develop their leaves early, these two are about theearliest of anything in the Arboretum except Prinsepia ,sinerrsi.s which is alwaysfirst. Both have