Euonymus alatus f. compactus

[mark smyth]

I bought a Euonymous elata Compactus because the label description and photo showed a plant with fantastic red autumn foliage.

Mine is poor. I would remove it and plant something different. How do your plants compare to mine? Any idea why mine isnt red?

[Hoy]

My Euonymus elata is always one of the best autumn shrubs. I am not sure it is 'Compactus' though but it is more than 20 years old and still a handy size. The autumn colour differ a little from one year to the next, more sun produces stronger colours. However, the colour is never quite like yours. Here is a picture:

Btw, did you mean E. alatus 'Compactus'? The twigs of your shrub doesn't show the cork ridges.

[Olga Bondareva]

Euonymous elata Compactus

My Euonymus elata

I haven't found anything about the species. Are ou sure it's exists?

Think Mark asked about Euonymus alatus.

It has 4 wings on it's branches. It's fall color depends on sunny place and poor soil.

[Olga Bondareva]

The twigs of your shrub doesn't show the cork ridges.

Yes. Mark's Euonymus isn't alatus. It looks more like E. europaeus.

[Olga Bondareva]

E. alatus cork ridges

[Hoy]

Euonymous elata Compactus

My Euonymus elata

I haven't found anything about the species. Are ou sure it's exists?

Think Mark asked about Euonymus alatus.
It has 4 wings on it's branches. It's fall color depends on sunny place and poor soil.

I agree, Olga. I realized that the name was wrong but forgot to correct before posting.

[Maggi Young]

Euonymus alatus f.  compactus is a synonym of E. alatus .... spelling!




 Mark's plant is something else, as Olga and Trond suggest, I'm sure.

[Diane Clement]

Euonymus alatus f.  compactus is a synonym of E. alatus .... spelling!

"forma compactus" comes within the species botanically, but "Compactus" is a distinct horticultural cultivar with an AGM.  Here it is listed on the RHS site
Euonymus alatus "Compactus"

[Maggi Young]

Well done, Diane, thanks!  I can rely on you to keep me right.... thank goodness.

[mark smyth]

My mistake - it's alatus with winged stems

[Lesley Cox]

Trond and Olga, that is certainly outstanding autumn colour. I must find it here. But Mark, while not so fiery, yours is very pretty.

[mark smyth]

It'll be in the bin next autumn if it does not perform

[TheOnionMan]

Here are a few pictures of E. alatus 'Compactus', it was a house warming gift from friends 22 years ago. Every year I whack it back by 3-4', it's such a vigorous grower.  It was widely planted in New England for the past half century or longer, but it is now banned from sale from some States such as in Massachusetts, because it is widely considered an invasive in eastern USA.  Fall color can vary, depending on weather, most years its a brilliant red (the inner leaves that are shaded turn yellow or pinkish).  Also seen here is regular E. alatus which gets much taller and grows more open, and typically has pinkish fall color.  Interesting to note, young wood does not always show the strong corky wings.

Fall color on 10/29/2010



Fall color on 11/01/2004, when I was building my deck



Seeds, which are spread around by birds eating them:


This site describes a number of cultivars  although 'Compactus' is the one universally seen here.
http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/tmi/plantlist/eu_latus.html

Variants
virtually all cultivars of Burning Bush are more compact than the species form, but they differ primarily in how compact they are, how corky or non-corky the stems are, cold hardiness, upright versus rounded shape, and whether they branch to the ground versus become leggy with age; the following is an expanded list of modern cultivars:

Euonymus alatus 'Bailey Strain' - similar in all aspects of appearance to 'Compacta', but hardy to zone 4; rare availability

Euonymus alatus 'Compacta' - a "compact" form maturing slowly at 8' tall by 8' wide, with virtually no corky wings on its first-year, relatively thin, but more dense green stems, but only hardy to zone 5; the most popular cultivar by far and abundantly available; sometimes alternatively spelled Euonymus alata 'Compactus'

Euonymus alatus 'Nordine Strain' - heavily cork-barked, branching to the ground, to 10' tall by 10' wide, hardy to zone 4; low availability

Euonymus alatus 'Phellomanus' - heavily cork-barked, to 10' tall by 10' wide, hardy to zone 4; rare availability

Euonymus alatus 'Rudy Haag' - similar in appearance but much smaller than 'Compacta', slowly growing to 5' tall by 5' wide, hardy to zone 4; rare availability

Euonymus alatus 'Synnestvedt' - branching to the ground, to 10' tall by 10' wide, hardy to zone 4; rare availability


Invasives.org, google Euonymus alatus invasive for lots of information:
http://www.invasive.org/gist/alert/alrteuon.html

Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List, this plant is banned from sales here:
http://www.mass.gov/agr/farmproducts/prohibitedplantlist.htm

Interesting: "Stop the seeds, stop the spread? Sterile burning bush developed"
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have painstakingly developed a sterile triploid cultivar of Euonymus alatus, winged burning bush.
http://www.invasiveplantguide.com/blog/

[Olga Bondareva]

Mark (Smyth) could you please make a photo of your Euonymus berry? The berry I can see at the third image looks not like of E. alatus (look at TheOnionMan photo).

[Olga Bondareva]

Mark (TheOnionMan) you've made an outstanding autumn scenery!
My E. alatus is from our botanic garden. It's branches are always strongly winged. Berries are the same to yours.