Leaf
Daniel Barthelemy, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Japanese spindle
Euonymus japonicus Thunb.
Also known as: Evergreen spindle
Family: Celastraceae
1 to 3 m tall
Evergreen hedges, containers, seaside, all soils
Flowering: June – July
Full sun
Part shade
Hardy to -15°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Very tolerant of sea spray, it is widely used for hedges on the coast. The spindle is a deciduous shrub with very conspicuous pink fruits with orange seeds in autumn, whereas the Japanese spindle is evergreen, often variegated, grown in clipped hedges, with inconspicuous fruiting.
🍃 Leaves
Evergreen, leathery, ovate, glossy green (sometimes variegated depending on the variety)
🌸 Flowers
Tiny greenish flowers, barely visible
🍎 Fruits
Small pink capsules opening to reveal orange seeds
🪵 Bark
Green stems turning grey-brown, much branched
🗺️ Distribution
Japan, Korea; widely grown in France as an evergreen hedge, not wild.
🐝 Value for pollinators
Small, inconspicuous flowers, not spectacular but visited by a few foraging insects.
✂️ Horticultural uses
Much used as a clipped evergreen hedge and for topiary, tolerant of urban pollution and sea spray.
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Fruits and seeds toxic if eaten (digestive and cardiac problems at high doses), as in other spindles.
🌱 Known cultivars
Aureo-marginatus
Dark green foliage broadly edged with golden yellow, very bright even in mid-winter — one of the best-selling variegated spindles in nurseries for hedges and ornamental borders.
Microphyllus
Dwarf form with very small leaves (about 2 cm), used as a substitute for box for low edgings and topiary — less palatable to box tree moth than box itself, without being completely immune.
⚠️ Look-alike species
Japanese spindle
Euonymus japonicus
Spindle
Euonymus europaeus
The spindle is a deciduous shrub with very conspicuous pink fruits with orange seeds in autumn, whereas the Japanese spindle is evergreen, often variegated, grown in clipped hedges, with inconspicuous fruiting.
🌿 Other Celastraceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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