- Type
- Trees & Vines
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Season
- Spring·Fall
- Sowing
- Plant a sapling
Winged spindle
Euonymus alatus
Spring shoots eaten as namul · fruit and seed are not food
Winged spindle is a deciduous shrub in the staff-vine family, its young branches carrying three or four ridges of corky wing that look like the fletching on an arrow. The young spring shoots, called hotnip in Korean, are blanched and eaten as a namul, and in autumn the foliage turns red, which is why it is planted so widely as an ornamental. It tolerates cold, shade and hard pruning alike, so in a city you usually meet it as a clipped hedge or a line along the edge of a planting bed. The Donguibogam lists it in the Wood section as 衛矛, giving it a cold nature and a bitter taste with no toxicity, and setting beside that the note that some call it slightly toxic. The same entry describes three wings along the stem like arrow fletching, records the alternative name 鬼箭, and notes the household custom of burning it to drive off ill fortune.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
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Wild population
It grows wild on the lower mountain slopes nationwide and is also widely planted for hedges and landscaping. The young shoots are picked under the name honnip-namul (young-shoot greens). Harvest April, May
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- Wild population It grows wild in the mountains from Dongbei (Northeast China) to Huazhong (Central China), and the winged ridges of the branches are gathered under the name guijianyu.
- Wild population Called nishikigi, it grows wild in the mountains from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
- Wild population It grows wild in the forests of Primorsky Krai and Sakhalin in the Far East.
Its native range is the temperate zone of East Asia, covering Korea, China, Japan and the Russian Far East. It is not a field crop grown for sale but a shrub whose young shoots are picked and whose branches are cut in the mountains, so there are no production figures by country; the rows here therefore count only the four parts of that native range. In North America and Europe it was brought in as a landscaping plant and has since spread into the woods, and because it is treated as an invasive species in the northeastern United States, those regions are not listed as producing areas.
- Optimum
- 15~25℃
- Range
- 0~32℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
A deciduous shrub that puts up with cold, shade and thin soil alike. It comes through winters of close to −30℃, and its autumn colour turns deepest on dry, sunny sites where the gap between day and night temperatures is wide.
Harvested 2–3 years after planting. In the year the saplings go in, hardly any shoots are taken; once the branches have filled out after two or three years, they are picked every spring.
In Korea Nationwide
It grows wild on the lower mountain slopes nationwide and is widely planted for landscaping in hedges and flower beds. The young shoots are picked from mid-April to early May.
How to grow
- Light
- Tolerates full sun and partial shade alike. Autumn colour runs deeper where the light is good
- Soil and depth
- Undemanding. Given drainage it will grow in poor, gritty ground
- Spacing
- 60 to 80cm apart in a hedge line, 1.5m for a specimen shrub
- Watering
- Attention in the first year only; after that rainfall is enough. In a pot, water when the surface dries
- Feeding
- A ring of compost once in early spring is plenty. Heavy feeding pushes soft growth and poorly formed wings
- Harvest
- Pick shoots from mid-April to early May, while they are a fingernail long and the leaves have not fully opened. Never strip more than half the shoots from one branch. Once the leaves toughen, that year's picking is over
What makes the difference. It takes hard pruning well. Trimming in June after flowering brings up a denser crop of new branches, and more shoots to pick next spring
Why this one is harder. If autumn colour is the point, it needs sun and a dry position. In shade, or with plenty of feed and water, the leaves go yellow and drop instead of turning red
Common problems
- Plinachtus bicoloripes, a leaf-footed bug You will see Sits on new growth and leaves, and gives off a smell when disturbed What to do Hand-collect in the cool of the morning. It gathers readily on this shrub, so check the shoot tips from spring onward
- Scale insects You will see White waxy lumps or brown shell-like scabs stuck to the branches What to do Scrape them off with a brush in winter and apply a horticultural mineral oil before the leaves break
- Aphids You will see Curled new shoots and sticky leaves What to do Wash them off with a jet of water. Do not spray a shrub whose shoots you intend to eat
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
What the Donguibogam records — nature, taste and names. The Donguibogam lists it in the Wood section as 衛矛. It records a cold nature and a bitter taste with no toxicity, and sets beside that the note that some call it slightly toxic. It describes the shrub as found everywhere, with three wings along the stem like arrow fletching, and gives the alternative names 鬼箭 and 鬼箭羽. This is a historical medical record and differs from modern medical judgment.
The gathering times and folk custom the Donguibogam gives. The same entry records gathering in the eighth, eleventh and twelfth lunar months, paring off the bark and the wings for use. It also carries the Uihak Ipmun note that households burned it to drive off ill fortune. These are lunar dates and do not line up with a modern solar calendar. This is a historical record and a folk custom, and differs from modern medical judgment.
Analyses of leaf composition. Compositional analyses report quercetin-class flavonoids and tannins identified in the leaves. The same results note differences in content with harvest timing and growing site. This concerns compositional analysis and has no bearing on preventing or treating disease.
Nutrition
- Flavonoids including quercetin (distributed through leaves and young shoots) — polyphenols widespread in plants
- Tannins (the source of astringency in unblanched shoots) — polyphenols that taste astringent
- Toxic constituents of fruit and seed (the red capsule splits in autumn to expose an orange seed) — compounds in the parts that are not eaten
Preparing the spring shoots Only the young spring shoots and young leaves are eaten. Blanch them, rinse in cold water and squeeze once. If astringency remains, draw them a further 10 to 20 minutes, changing the water. Once the leaves have fully opened and toughened, the shoots are no longer used as a namul.
Leaf flavonoids and tannins Analyses report quercetin-class flavonoids and tannins identified in the leaves and young shoots. The astringency is largely the tannins, and a good share of it leaves in the blanching and soaking water. Results also report differences in profile with harvest timing and growing site. This entry stays with the compositional record.
What is eaten and what is not Nothing beyond the young spring shoots and leaves is eaten. The red capsules that split open in autumn and the orange seeds inside are not food, and the fruit of staff-vine family shrubs is generally treated as something people do not eat. The corky wings on the branches are not an ingredient either. Children pick the red fruit up like sweets, so point the plant out before it fruits.
Pairings
○ Sesame oil and salt — Blanched and drawn shoots are usually dressed with nothing more than sesame oil and salt. The aroma is delicate, and heavy seasoning erases it. Adjust the salt last.
○ Namul rice — Wring the shoots out, lay them over the rice as it steams and stir them through. It is a short spring window, so do not cook a large batch at once. Leftovers keep two days in the fridge at most.
○ Blanched and frozen — A large picking can be blanched, squeezed dry and frozen in single portions. Since the shoots vanish once spring passes, this is the practical way to keep them. Thaw slowly in the fridge.
△ The red fruit and the orange seed — not food — Only the young spring shoots and leaves of winged spindle are eaten. The orange seed exposed when the red capsule splits in autumn is not food: leave it on the shrub, and throw away any that have been picked. The corky wings along the branches are not an ingredient either. The colour is bright enough that a child may take the fruit for a sweet, so point the shrub out before it opens if it stands in a garden or a planting bed, and sweep up fallen fruit as it drops. If a child is known to have swallowed some, keep the remaining fruit to hand and contact a medical service.
Varieties
- Euonymus alatus (seedling) — The type species, with pronounced corky wings and red autumn colour
- Euonymus alatus f. ciliatodentatus (seedling) — The wingless form, or with wings barely present. Leaves and shoots are used the same way
- 'Compactus' (seedling) — An ornamental selection bred low and rounded. The wings are weak on this one
Source: Donguibogam, Wood Section 衛矛 · Rural Development Administration (Nongsaro) · Korea National Arboretum species database