1. Guides
  2. Plants of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque
  3. winged euonymus

winged euonymus

Euonymus alatus

A plant that can be used for medicine involving stomach, Burns, and medicine for new mothers after birth. 2

Euonymus alatus, known variously as winged spindle, winged euonymus or burning bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to central and northern China, Japan, and Korea.

Arianna, 9th grade at TISNM school

Euonymus alatus or also known as Winged spindle, Burning bush, Winged euonymus. The name alatus is Latin for “winged” in mentioning to the winged branches. [1]

This plant (shrub) grows to 6.1m (20ft) tall, and a lot of the time is wider than tall. The stems are noticeable for their corky ridges or “Wing.” These structures progress from a cork cambium deposited in the longitudinal grooves in the twigs’ first year, not like similar wings in other plants. The leaves are 2-7cm (¾-2 2/4in) long and 1-4cm (½-1 1/2in) broad, ovate-elliptic, with an acute apex. The flowers are greenish brown over a long period in the spring. The fruit is red aril enclosed by a four-lobed pink, yellow or orange capsule. Don’t confuse this plant with wahoo, (which is also referred to as Burning bush).[1] One way to tell the different is by the color of the leaves, wahoos leaves are yellow in fall. Also, the branches are not curled or “winged” like Burning bush.[2]

Euonymus alatus is in the Celastraceae, and is native to Japan central and northern China, Korea. Burning bush does well in bad soil and little water once a week. Winge burning bush, was brought to the U.S. in 1860 as a living decoration.[1]

Even though it has an invasive nature, it is still being bought frequently across the world for its hardiness heavy red leaves (in fall), and winged stems. It is found every were from human landscapes, trade and industrial sites and parks.[1] Birds eat the fruits and is how it spreads so far to other places.[3] Dogs can get gravely ill from eating any part of the plant because of the alkaloids and cardiac glycosides.[4]

Humans use its leaves and roots for medicine. It helps the digestive tract disorders including cramps, worms in the intestines, and stomach problems. It is also used for urinary tract and genital tract disorders. Other uses include treating epilepsy, baldness, liver disease (Hepatitis,) fluid retention, spasms, and used as a tonic or stimulant. Some people put it on their affected skin areas. They used it (topically) for skin disorders such as cuts, swelling, scabies, infection, and is good for painful conditions such as joint pain (arthritis or rheumatism). Other skin uses are good for fever, more than normal uterine bleeding.[1]

The oil of the plant burns easily.[1] Is used as a sedative for grownups and kids, used as a tonic.[1] Women use it to start menstruation, as birth control, and to help force out the placenta after child birth. [1]

There is not enough information to know if Burning Bush is safe. Some of the side effects were found, like Burning Bush can make you more sensitive to the sun if it comes in contact with your skin.[1]

Special precautions and warnings
There is not much known about when pregnancy and breast-feeding.

Quote: “Stay on the safe side and avoid use.” [1]

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-599/burning-bush [1] {March 26,2019}
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Euonymus+alatus+-+wikipedia&addon=chrome&addonversion=2.1.0 edited on 4 April 2016 at 15:35(UTC) [2] {March 26,2019}
https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/home/ct-sun-1019-garden-morton-20141015-story.html October 15. 2014 10:10 am [3] {March 28}
https://wagwalking.com/condition/burning-bush-poisoning [4] March 29

{Made on march 30,2019 9:30pm

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Claire O'Neill, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Claire O'Neill
  2. Adapted by tisdrn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euonymus_alatus

More Info

iNat Map

Member of the iNaturalist Network   |   Powered by iNaturalist open source software |   Documentation for developers