Takes 14 months.Ĭultivation of the herb: Woods, scrub and hedges, usually on calcareous soils. Cuttings of mature wood, November in a frame. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm long taken at a node or with a heel, July/August in a frame.

Grow the seedlings on for two years in the seedbed before planting them out into their permanent positions. One report says that the seed can be sown in an outdoors seedbed in early spring with good results. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Stored seed requires 8 - 12 weeks warm followed by 8 - 16 weeks cold stratification and can then be sown in a cold frame. Propagation of Spindle Tree: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. A high quality charcoal is obtained from the wood, it is used by artists. Used for spindles, skewers, knitting needles, toothpicks, carving etc. Wood - very hard, easily split, fine-grained, not durable. Roots yield up to 4% gutta-percha, a non elastic rubber used as an electrical insulation and for making plastics. The baked and powdered berries are used to remove lice from the hair, they are also used as an insecticide. This becomes green with the addition of alum, but unfortunately both colours are rather fugitive. A good yellow dye is obtained from the fleshy coating around the seeds. It is possible that there are two oils, an essential oil from the plant and an oil from the seed. Other reports say that the oil is obtained from the seed.

Other uses of the herb: The whole plant yields a volatile oil that is used in soap making. One report suggests that the plant is a source of a manna, there are no further details. These reports should be treated with some caution since many members of this genus are poisonous. Pink from the fruit case, orange from the seed. Habitat of the herb: Woods, scrub and hedges, usually on calcareous soils.Įdible parts of Spindle Tree: An edible yellow dye is obtained from the fruit and seed.

Spindle tree