Mystery in fall

I don't remember ANYthing about this plant -- where I got it, or when?  Cutting or plant?  I DID get it in NC. But it LOOKS like this one came from a cutting.

But it turns this brilliant yellow every fall.  Grows VERY slowly.  Stems are extremely straight, stiff and brittle; they fold before they bend and break, so stem is either hollow or pithy.  Bark on trunk is getting a bit furrowed.  Leaves entire; no lobes and very faintly toothed.  Buds prominent.  Leaves dark green in summer; not glossy, but not dull and fuzzy, either.  

I have dozens or tree/shrub books and have not found it.  Please make me feel stupid and ID it easily.  <g>

A better overall image and a leaf or two. The tree/plant is about 8 inches tall.

Euonymus of some sort.

I considered that because of the opposite leaves, but stems, leaf edges and fall color made me say no.  Most, if not all of the exotic Euonymous leaves seem to be evergreen, or nearly so.  The native species' fall color isn't described as being this brilliant.  The closest is E. atropurpureus, and that is still a possibility, though I've never seen a yard shrub with this much color.

Thanks.

Any other suggestions?

The buds and stems look exactly like the native euonymus growing in my back yard. But the leaves of mine are more lanceolate and semi-evergreen.

My first thought was Euonymus as well; just because it looks like it belongs to that genus...   

I think Euonymus too.  My first though was that it's one of the climbing deciduous species.  Am I seeing little roots along the stems, especially on the right side?  We don't grow them much down here.... Euonymus kiautschovicus ????

Bark, buds, leaves , euonymus of japan, my tree with fruits
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Dirr says Euonymus kiautschovicus leaves "burn(s) in winter and looks quite unkempt." He mentions no color change (and does in other species), and mine is deciduous.

The teeth on this one are much smaller, finer and delicate than those shown on Euonymus kiautschovicus in the drawings in Dirr, and those on the plant abcd shows (those are much fleshier than mine, also).

But as everyone seems to think Euonymus, does anyone know of a good, illustrated monograph on the genus on the I'net?

Well, like I said, that's a stab in the dark. I remember that one from my plant materials classes 22 years ago at Mississippi State. The only one you really see around here is japonicas, and it's such a dog and disease magnet that I don't know why anyone would waste their time with it.

This looks like what I call Service berry. which is a smaller open flowering tree--Amelanchier, I believe.

My serviceberrys are far more colored than this in the fall, red's oranges and some yellow, but could be a zone thing, as Amalancheir is more grown up north.

Nope. Euonymus.

Looks like an Euonymus species to me too!

Bill

That sure seems to be the consensus; now the species search begins.