Euonymus japonicus

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Caution

Young leaves can be eaten after boiling. Older leaves are powdered and used as a food colouring. These reports should be treated with caution given the toxicity concerns associated with this genus.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate and subtropical plant. It is grown at high altitudes in the tropics. It suits hardiness zones 7-10. Melbourne Botanical Gardens. Arboretum Tasmania.

Asia, Australia, Cambodia, Central Asia, China, East Timor, Europe, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan*, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Philippines, SE Asia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, USA, Vietnam,

How to Identify

A spreading evergreen shrub. It grows 3-3.5 m high. The leaves are dark shiny green. The flowers are pale greenish. The fruit are pink capsules opening to reveal orange seeds.

How to Grow

Grows well in heavy clay soils. Shade tolerant but does not fruit well in such a position. Prefers a well-drained loamy soil. Plants are very tolerant of maritime exposure, succeeding even when grown on the sea shore, but they can be killed by cold drying winds. A very ornamental plant, there are a number of named varieties. It is only hardy in S. England tolerating temperatures down to about -10°c. Plants are more likely to succumb to the cold if they are regularly trimmed (this exposes young growth to the cold), this regular trimming also leads to mildew especially when plants are growing in very dry ground. The Japanese spindle tree is cultivated in Russia and Spain for the latex contained in the root. It is best grown in a dry soil and an open position when being grown for its latex. Plants are often slow to get established. Plants can be susceptible to attacks by caterpillars and are often damaged during the flowering season. They are also a host of the sugar beet fly. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months of cold stratification and should be sown as early in the year as possible; seed can take 18 months to germinate. When seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out into permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5–7cm long, taken at a node or with a heel, root very easily in July or August in a frame. Mature wood cuttings can be taken in October in a frame. Cuttings will root readily at any time of year if given bottom heat. Root cuttings can also be taken in winter.

Medicinal Uses

The stem bark is antirheumatic, diuretic, and tonic. The leaf is used in cases of difficult delivery.

Other Uses

The roots and stems yield up to 7% gutta-percha, a non-elastic rubber used as an electrical insulator and in making plastics. The plant can be grown as a hedge, as it tolerates trimming well and succeeds in severe maritime exposure.

Euonymus japonicus (evergreen spindle or Japanese spindle) is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to Japan and Korea.

Notes

There are about 175 Euonymus species.

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