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Euonymus
The spindles, genus Euonymus, comprise about 170-180 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and small trees. They live mostly in East Asia, including the Himalayas, and they also have a distribution in Europe, Asia, Australasia, North America and Madagascar.
Mature Spindle fruit, after splitting open to reveal the seeds
The flowers are situated in small groups, inconspicuous and of green or yellow shades. The leaves are opposite (rarely alternate) and simple ovoid, typically 2-15 cm long, and usually with a finely serrated margin.
The fruit is a pink-red four- or five- valved pod-like berry, which splits open to reveal the fleshy-coated orange seeds. The seeds are eaten by frugivorous birds, which digest the fleshy seed coat and disperse the seeds in their droppings. All parts of the plants are poisonous to humans if eaten.
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