Spindle
Euonymous europaeus
Another bush more common on limestone soils which shares its most common areas of distribution with the guelder rose. However, the spindle is also found in County Down and is tolerant of a range of non-acid soils.
It is an inconspicuous shrub with pale bark, oval leaves, and small pale flowers. It is the fruits that are amazingly colourful with bright pink cases that split open to reveal hard orange seeds. It will grow from seed but may also be propagated by cuttings. The hard pale wood used to be used for making spindles for spinning wheels and looms – hence the name.
Collection
Collect the brightly coloured fruits in autumn either by picking or gently shaking the tree.
Treatment/Stratification
Discard the pink fruit and gently rub off the orange seed coat by hand before sowing. This is tedious but means that seeds may be sown straight away and germination is more reliable than after stratification. However, if you have a lot of seed and hand preparation is too time consuming, the seeds should be stratified over winter.
Sowing
Sow immediately after collection or in March following stratification. Cover with a thin layer of coarse sand. Germination is extremely variable. Wait and hope!
Propagation
Spindle may, also be propagated from cuttings although it is not very ready, to root (see advice for holly).
