EUONYMUS, in botany, a genus of deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees of the staff-tree family (Celastraceae) . It comprises upwards of 1 oo species, widely distributed in the north temperate zone, and represented in Great Britain by E. europaeus, the spindle-tree. It is a shrub or small tree growing in copses or hedges, with a grey smooth bark, four-angled green twigs, opposite leaves and loose clusters of small greenish-white flowers. The ripe fruit is a pale crimson colour and splits into four lobes exposing the bright orange-coloured seed. Besides the spindle-tree, which has become naturalized in the eastern United States, the genus is represented in North America by E. americanus (strawberry bush), E. obovatus (creeping strawberry bush), E. atropurpureus (wahoo), and E. occidentalis (western wahoo). Numerous species are in cultivation, among which are E. japonicus, a handsome ever green often with variegated leaves, and E. repens, a hardy climber for walls, especially the var. vegetus, which bears profuse per sistent fruits. The flowering was said to foretell plague.