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Home  /  Plants  /  Budburst Species  /  Euonymus alatus
Phenology Observation Sheet for Deciduous Trees and Shrubs

COMMON NAME

Burning bush

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Euonymus alatus

ALSO KNOWN AS

winged euonymus, winged spindletree

Plant family

Bittersweet (Celastraceae)

Plant group

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs

This plant is a deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed shrub that typically grows 5-10 ft in height (but can grow up to 20 ft). It is known for its fiery red fall foliage. Native to areas from northeastern Asia to central China, this plant is used as an ornamental in the U.S. It is considered to be a ecological threat due to its ability to establish itself in woodlands, forests, fields, and disturbed areas where it can often out-compete native plants to form dense thickets.
169 reports
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OBSERVERS
169+
OBSERVATIONS
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Identification hints

Greenish-brown stems typically have distinctive corky ridges ("wings"), although these can be reduced or absent on some plants. Leaves grow in opposite pairs and turn from dark green to bright red-purple in autumn. They are elliptic to broadly elliptic and finely serrated along their margins. Small, yellowish green, 4-petaled flowers occur in small clusters (3 flowers or less) between April and July. Small, red-purple fruit capsules generally mature during summer and ripen in fall, when they split open to reveal the tiny seeds. 
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Did you know?

This plant may be confused with other species of euonymus including our native strawberry bush (Euonymus americana), which has green non-winged stems, and saplings of native sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua).
DISTRIBUTION IN TH U.S.
Connecticut , Delaware , Georgia , Iowa , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Maryland , Michigan , Missouri , Montana , North Carolina , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina , Virginia , Vermont , Wisconsin , West Virginia
HABITAT
There is no information available about this species.

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