Spindle-tree

Spindle-tree (Euonymus), a genus of plants of the natural order Celastraceæ. This order contains about 260 known species, all small trees or shrubs. The genus Euonymus has a lobed capsule and seeds surrounded by an aril, which in some of the species is remarkable for its brilliancy of colour. The Common Spindle-tree (E. europæus), a native of Britain, chiefly of the southern parts, and of great part of Europe, is very ornamental when in fruit, and its aril is of a fine orange colour. It is a shrub rather than a tree. The wood is hard and fine-grained. It is used for the finer articles of turnery and for skewers. It was formerly used for making musical instruments and for spindles, whence the name of the shrub. In Germany the shoots are bored for stems of tobacco-pipes. Charcoal made of it is much valued for crayons.