Species: Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus)
Family: Spindles (CELASTRACEAE)
Category: Flowering Plants
Location: NE
A. Flowering Plants
More extensive information on flowering plants can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Spindles (CELASTRACEAE)
This is a diverse family, many members of which are known for their colourful fruits.
C. Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus)
This native tree is an ancient woodland indicator. It flowers from May, but is at its loveliest in Autumn, when its leaves turn a russet colour, and its pink and orange fruits ripen. The hard, dense, creamy-white timber has been used to make spindles, skewers, toothpicks, pegs, and knitting needles, and also high-quality charcoal for artists. If it flowered early it was said that plague was on its way.
Images
Spindle Tree
The Spindle Tree flowers from May, but is at its loveliest in Autumn, when its leaves turn a russet colour.
Spindle Tree
The Spindle Tree is an ancient woodland indicator. The hard, dense, creamy-white timber has been used to make spindles, skewers, toothpicks, pegs, and knitting needles, and also high-quality charcoal for artists. If it flowered early it was said that plague was on its way. (It's not recorded whether this happened with Heene Cemetery's single Spindle Tree in the autumn of 2019.)
Spindle Tree
Here the buds of the white flowers of the Spindle tree are emerging in mid-April.
Spindle Tree
By mid-May, the Spindle tree's flowers have a waxy appearance.
