OregonFlora: Euonymus fortunei vs. Celastraceae

	Euonymus fortunei	Celastraceae
	winter creeper	staff-tree family
Habit		Shrubs or small trees perennial, evergreen or deciduous, glabrous.
Stems		twigs 4-angled, with corky ridges.
Leaves		opposite; simple; margins scalloped or finely serrate; veins pinnate; stipules absent or small and shed early.
Inflorescences		axillary clusters; bracts present.
Flowers		bisexual, radially symmetrical; small; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5; disk fused to hypanthium; stamens 4 or 5; ovaries superior; styles 1; stigmas 2–5-lobed.
Fruits		capsules; dehiscence loculicidal.
Seeds		enclosed by arils.

	Euonymus fortunei	Celastraceae
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion		Worldwide. 50 genera; 2 genera treated in Flora. Contemporary authorities place the genus Parnassia within Celastraceae (Stevens 2012). This is based, however, on a study in which the molecular data was inconclusive (Simmons et al. 2008). As such, we are not including Parnassia within this family but rather maintaining it within Parnassiaceae.
Source		Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 582
Sibling taxa	E. europaeus, E. occidentalis
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Celastraceae

winter creeper

staff-tree family

Habit

Shrubs or small trees perennial, evergreen or deciduous, glabrous.

Stems

twigs 4-angled, with corky ridges.

Leaves

opposite; simple;

margins scalloped or finely serrate;

veins pinnate;

stipules absent or small and shed early.

Inflorescences

axillary clusters;

bracts present.

Flowers

bisexual, radially symmetrical; small;

sepals 4 or 5;

petals 4 or 5; disk fused to hypanthium;

stamens 4 or 5;

ovaries superior;

styles 1;

stigmas 2–5-lobed.

Fruits

capsules; dehiscence loculicidal.

Seeds

enclosed by arils.

Celastraceae

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Worldwide. 50 genera; 2 genera treated in Flora.

Contemporary authorities place the genus Parnassia within Celastraceae (Stevens 2012). This is based, however, on a study in which the molecular data was inconclusive (Simmons et al. 2008). As such, we are not including Parnassia within this family but rather maintaining it within Parnassiaceae.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 582

Sibling taxa

E. europaeus, E. occidentalis

Web links