Euonymus lucidus D. Don

A small evergreen tree; young shoots not downy, but covered with a pale waxy substance. Leaves opposite, narrowly oval to lanceolate, slender-pointed, tapered more abruptly to the base, the margins regularly set with fine, simple, even teeth; 2 to 5 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide; of firm leathery texture; of a rich shining red when young, becoming dark shining green with age; stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers numerous, produced in May in cymes about 11⁄2 in. long; small, greenish and of no beauty. Fruit 1⁄2 in. wide, four-lobed; wings thin; aril orange.

Native of the Himalaya, where it is said to occur locally from Hazara to Assam, but to be nowhere common; introduced about 1850. It is not hardy near London, but succeeds well to the south and west, nowhere perhaps better than in the Channel Islands. A correspondent in Jersey writes: ‘Mine is quite a tall tree, lovely in the spring, when the whole of it is covered with blood-red young leaves.’ It is also common in Cornish gardens and has attained a height of 46 ft at Tregothnan.

This euonymus has been confused with E. fimbriatus Wall., a quite distinct species with deciduous leaves jaggedly or doubly toothed, and larger fruits 1 in. wide. E. pendulus Wall., under which E. lucidus appeared in previous editions, is a provisional name and has no standing under nomenclatural rules. The name E. lucidus was published in Prodr. Fl Nepal., p. 191 (1825).

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The largest Cornish specimens measured are: Caerhays, 46 × 33⁄4 ft (1984) and Tregothnan, 41 × 43⁄4 ft (1985).