The Burningbush (Euonymus alatus) belongs to Celastraceae (the Bittersweet family). It is a small deciduous tree that is native to various parts of Japan, as well as the Korean Peninsula, northerneast China, Sakhalin and Ussuri. This tree grows in hillsides, montane forests or forest-edges and can reach 1-3 m in height. The young branches are quadrangular with cork wings on the ridges. The leaves are oblong to obovate and opposite. The cymes are borne on the axiles and bloom pale yellowish-green flowers from May to June. The leaves turn bright red in fall. The capsules are ripen in fall, splitting open and come out reddish-orange seeds when mature. It has long been regarded as a wonder drug for removing thorns and is also known as "togenuki-san" (stinging thorn remover). The corky fins of the branches were blackened, kneaded with rice grains, and applied to the affected area. In Chinese, it is called "衛矛" (wei mao).