STAFF-TREE FAMILY
254. WAAHOO or burning bush (Evonymus atropurpureus Jacq.) a medium to tall shrub or small tree of low woodlands, not very common. Leaves: opposite, simple, 2 to 5 inches long, tapering at both ends, finely serrate, light green and often turning pinkish in autumn. Twigs: green with gray stripes, often more or less 4-angled. Bark: smoothish, mottled gray. Flowers: small, very dark red, 4-lobed, in May. Fruit: crimson, not more than one in each lobe of 4-lobed rosy pod hanging from red, threadlike stem, in winter. Wood: heavy, hard and close-grained. The climbing bittersweet, native of Oklahoma and East Texas, is a member of this family.
254 waahoo