Euonymus occidentalis
Euonymus occidentalis is a species of spindle tree known by the common names western burning bush and western wahoo.
| Western burning bush | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Celastrales |
| Family: | Celastraceae |
| Genus: | Euonymus |
| Species: | E. occidentalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Euonymus occidentalis | |
 | |
| Natural range | |
Distribution
It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it is the only member of its genus growing wild.
Description
This is a shrub or small tree reaching maximum heights of anywhere from two to six meters. The thin, green, oval-shaped leaves are three to fourteen centimeters long and sometimes rolled under along the edges. The inflorescence holds up to five small flowers at the end of a long peduncle. Each flower has five rounded pink to brown and white mottled petals around a central nectar disc with 5 nubs. The fruit is a rounded capsule with three bulging lobes. It opens to reveal one seed in each of the three lobes. The seed in concealed in a red aril.