Deciduous shrub 3-6 m tall with angular branchlets with corky lines. Leaves ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, 4-8 cm long, long-pointed and round-toothed. Flower clusters on long stalks; spring. Flowers yellow-green. Fruits 4-lobed, about 2 cm wide, pink to bright red; seed with an orange aril.
E. alatus (Thunb.) Siebold from NE Asia to China has distinctive corky, flanged stems and leaves that colour bright red in autumn. 'Compactus' is a dwarf, compact form with leaves purple-red in autumn. Int. pre-1926 by J.W. Adams, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. E. americanus L. has lanceolate leaves 3-8 cm long and fruits with distinctive soft, warty prickles. E. latifolius (L.) Mill. from Europe and W Asia has longer leaves, mostly more than 7 cm long and glossy above.
Europe, W Asia.
Source: (2002). Celastraceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Euonymus europaeus 'Red Cascade'
A slow growing small tree with oval leaves that colour reddish in autumn and abundant orange-red fruits. Raised by Rowland Jackman, Woking, Surrey, UK.