- Euonymus atropurpureus
Taxobox
name = "Euonymus atropurpureus"
image_width = 240px
image_caption =
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Celastrales
familia =Celastraceae
genus = "Euonymus "
species = "E. atropurpureus"
binomial = "Euonymus atropurpureus"
binomial_authority = Jacq."Euonymus atropurpureus" (Eastern Wahoo or Burning Bush) is a species of "
Euonymus " native to primarily to theMidwest ernUnited States , but its range extends from southernOntario south to northernFlorida andTexas .USGS Range Maps: [http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/euonatro.pdf "Euonymus atropurpureus Range Map" (pdf file)] ] Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?16251 "Euonymus atropurpureus"] ] U.S. Forest Service: [http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Euonymus%20atropurpureus.pdf "Euonymus atropurpureus" (pdf file)] ]It is a
deciduous shrub growing to 8 m tall, with stems up to 10 cm diameter. Thebark is gray, smooth, and lightly fissured. The twigs are dark purplish-brown, slender, sometimes four-angled or slightly winged. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, 8.5–11.3 cm long and 3.2–5.5 cm broad, abruptly long pointed at the tip, and with a finely serrated margin; they are green above, paler and often with fine hairs beneath, and turn bright red in the fall. Theflower s are bisexual, 10–12 mm diameter, with four greenish sepals, four brown-purple petals and four stamens; they are produced in small axillarycyme s. Thefruit is a smooth reddish to pink four-lobed (sometimes one or more of the lobes abort) capsule, up to 17 mm diameter, each lobe containing a single seed, orange with a fleshy redaril . The fruit is poisonous to humans, but is eaten by several species ofbird s, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. It grows in lowmeadow s, open slopes, openwoodland ,stream banks andprairie s, in miost soils, especially thickets, valleys, and forest edges.It is used medicinally in both the
United States and southeasternCanada . The powdered bark was used by American Indians and Pioneers as a purgative.Plants for a Future: [http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Euonymus+atropurpureus "Euonymus atropurpureus"] ]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.