1. Manx mistletoe is evergreen spindle (Euonymus japonicus). This seldom fruits in our cool climate and common spindle (E. europaeus) is very scarce, so the response to someone questioning the identity of the unfamiliar orange and pink fruits was ‘Do you not know Manx mistletoe?’ [Union Mills, Isle of Man, 1993].

Images: main, cultivated, Cambridge, January 2024; inset, growing as a pavement ‘weed’, Holmewood Gardens, Brixton, London Borough of Lambeth, May 2021.