Sacred Eonymus

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Sacred eonymus (lat. Euonymus sacrosancta) –Decorative shrub; a representative of the genus Euonymus of the family Euonymus. Comes from North Korea, Japan, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. It is found in thickets of bushes, in meadows, in the valleys of streams and rivers, deciduous and mixed forests, as well as on elephants in the mountains.

Characteristics of culture

Sacred euonymus is a deciduous shrub up to 1.5 m high with a wide branched crown and tap root system, which forms a huge number of superficial roots. Young shoots are green, round, tetrahedral, often equipped with thin longitudinal gray or brown wings, reaching a width of 0.5-0.6 cm. Usually this feature is characteristic of old branches.

Buds are small, ovoid, up to 0.4 cm long. The leaves are dark green, scarious, leathery, glabrous, elliptical or oblong-obovate, sharp or obtuse at the ends, with a wedge-shaped base, finely serrated along the edge, up to 8 cm long, sitting on short petioles. On the underside, the foliage is lighter, ciliate. In autumn, the leaves turn bright red or burgundy red.

The flowers are five-petal, greenish-white or greenish-purple, inconspicuous, reach 1-1.2 cm in diameter, collected in simple semi-umbellate inflorescences, located on drooping peduncles formed in the axils of the lower leaves of the shoots. The sacred euonymus blooms in May - June, for 10-12 days.

Fruits are spherical, 1-5-nested capsules, on the outside they are covered with subulate outgrowths, can have a red or pink color. Seeds are brown, ovoid, up to 0.4 cm long, covered with bright orange or bright red seedlings. The fruits ripen in September - October.

Like other species of the genus, the sacred euonymus is especially decorative in the second half of summer, when bright fruits begin to form on the shrubs, combined with rich green foliage. In autumn, euonymus becomes most attractive due to its red foliage. For this reason, the plants are ideal for autogenesis (autumn flower gardens), they are in perfect harmony with other shrubs and trees that change their foliage color in the fall.

Also, the sacred euonymus is suitable for the construction of hedges, decoration of rocky gardens and borders. Shrubs can be used in single and group plantings on the lawn. In any composition, euonymus looks very attractive. Many gardeners consider the species in question to be the most decorative.

The species is winter-hardy, shade-tolerant, has an average growth rate. The plant grows from the second decade of April to mid-late September, the exact growing season depends on climatic conditions. The seeds of the sacred euonymus are 100% viable, but the soil germination is low and does not exceed 30%. But this species is easily propagated by cuttings, when processing cuttings with growth stimulants, the rooting rate reaches 95-100%, and we are talking about both green cuttings and semi-lignified ones.

Growing features

Sacred euonymus is an adherent of slightly acidic, neutral or slightly alkaline, loose, light, water- and air-permeable, loamy soils. Feels bad on heavy, waterlogged, compacted, clayey and highly acidic areas. Easily puts up with partial shade, develops better in the light. Suitable for growing under the canopy of trees and near buildings. Propagated by seeds, cuttings and root shoots, plants have no problems with the latter, since root shoots are formed in huge quantities.

The seed method is ineffective and rarely used. Seeds are sown in autumn in greenhouses or in spring in open ground with preliminary two-stage stratification: 3-4 months at a temperature of 15-20C, 3-4 months - at a temperature of 0-3C. Like other ornamental shrubs, the sacred euonymus attracts pests and is often affected by various diseases, as a rule, this occurs when the rules of care are not followed or unfavorable conditions. Among the pests, aphids and apple moths should be noted, the caterpillars of which cover shoots and leaves with thick cobwebs and eat them almost naked, as a result, the shrubs lose their former decorative effect.

The fight against apple moth is difficult, in order to prevent damage, the plants are systematically treated with decoctions and infusions, for example, onion or mustard infusion, red hot pepper decoction or citrus infusion. When pests and nests are found, they are collected by hand, if the processing is not carried out during the processing, the caterpillars will begin to spread at a tremendous speed and infect nearby growing crops.