Euonymus ALATUS - Winged spindle, Burning bush, Euonymus alatus.
Can be grown in bonsai style!
Spindle trees and burning bushes from the family Celastraceae grow in broadleaf and mixed forests in temperate and subtropical latitudes of both hemispheres, occurring rarely in the tropics. The genus Euonymus includes evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees that have quadrangular or round shoots covered with greenish or brownish bark and opposite smooth leaves. The shoots may bear slender longitudinal gray ridges or prominent corky wings.
It blooms with inflorescences of small, inconspicuous pale green or brownish flowers that open after the leaves unfold. The inconspicuousness of the flowers is compensated for by the ornamental value of the original capsule fruits, which change in autumn from their immature pale green summer color to burgundy, purple, scarlet, crimson, or yellow. Upon splitting open, the fruits reveal white, red, brown, or black seeds covered with a fleshy aril, which in turn is colored orange, red, or brown in different Euonymus species. The seeds hanging from capsules on short stalks strongly resemble earrings, looking strikingly contrasting against the backdrop of still-green leaves.
Euonymus alatus - in the wild grows as a spreading, profusely branched shrub up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) high or a tree up to 4 m (13 ft) high. It is found growing in groups or solitary on rocks, along rivers, and in the shade of deciduous forests of the Far East. It is deciduous, slow-growing, characterized by quadrangular light gray branches with glossy rhomboid leathery dark green leaves that turn red in autumn. It blooms profusely in May-June with small yellowish-green three-flowered inflorescences. Mature fruit capsules are bright red. The thin, superficial, branched roots of the plant are sensitive to mechanical damage. USDA hardiness zone 4.