EVERGREEN BOX-TREE. 433 



lescent, Bids tia'm, Petit bids, Bids a hordures. Bids (TArtois, Bids de Hollandc, 

 of the French ; Standcnnr tiger Buchsbaittri, yiwerger Biichshdum, of tlie Ger- 

 mans ; dwarfy, with small obovate leaves. This is the kind usually cultivated 

 for edging beds in gardens. 



5. B. s. ARGENTEA, Loudoii. SUvsr-leaved Evergreen Box ; Bids argente, jf 

 the French; Silber-Bi(chsbaw7i, of the Germans; arborescent, with ovate leaves, 

 variegated with a silvery colour. 



6. B. s. AUREA, Loudon. Golden-coloured-leaved Evergreen Box ; Bids a feidlles 

 dories^ of the French; Goldgelber Bi/c/isbaiim, of the Germans; arborescent, 

 with ovate leaves, variegated with a golden colour. 



7. B. s. MARGiNATA, Loudon. Golden-edged-leaved Evergreen Box ; Buis tnar- 

 gine, of the French ; Eingefasster Buc/isbamn, of tlie Germans ; arborescent, 

 having ovate leaves, with a margin of a golden colour. 



8. B. s. VAHiEGATA, Loudou. Variegfited-lcuvcd Evcrgreoi Box ; Bids a feidlles 

 variees, of the French ; arborescent, with lanceolate variegated leaves. 



Geography and History. The J3uxus sempervirens is found wild on moun- 

 tains, and spreading as undergrowth among other trees, throughout Europe and 

 Asia, between the thirty-seventh and fifty-second degrees of north latitude; but 

 never forming forests entirely of itself It grows plentifully upon Box Hill, near 

 Dorking, in Surry, mixed with a few juniper bushes not higher than itself, but 

 not among deciduous trees, and shaded by them, as it does in its native habitat, 

 in France, and in other parts of the continent. The box-tree is found abundantly 

 in Turkey, and on the shores of the Black Sea ; but a great portion of the box- 

 wood of commerce, sold in the European and American markets as " Turkey 

 box," is grown in Circassia and Georgia, whence it is brought to Odessa for ship- 

 ment. It is also found in various parts of Persia, China, Cochin-China, and, 

 from some statements, in Japan. This tree, which is of great longevity, and sub- 

 ject to but few diseases, is rarely attacked by insects, and is so extremely hardy, 

 that there are but few other non- resin iferous evergreens that will stand in-the 

 open air. without protection, during winter, in the gardens of Paris, Berlin, Vienna, 

 and of New York. 



The box appears to have been first mentioned by Theophrastus, who ranks its 

 wood with that of ebony, on account of the closeness of its grain. Both Virgil 

 and Ovid allude to its use tor musical instruments, and employ the word box, as 

 if synonymous with that oi Jiute. Pliny describes the wood as being as hard to 

 burn as iron, producing no flame, and as being totally unfit for charcoal. He 

 distinguishes three kinds, which he calls the " larger, the smaller, and the Italian 

 box;" and speaks of the use of the tree for topiary gardens, and of the wood for 

 musical instruments. Vitruvius also recommends the box for topiary-work, and 

 uses the word topiarius to express the art of the gardener. This tree appears to 

 have been much employed in verdant sculpture, and close-clipped hedges, in the 

 gardens of Roman villas ni the Augustan age. Pliny describes his Tusculun villa 

 as having a lawn adorned with figures of animals cut out in box-trees, answer- 

 ing alternately to one another. This lawn was again surrounded by a walk 

 enclosed with evergreen shrubs, sheared into a variety of forms. Beyond this 

 was a place of exercise, of a circular form, ornameuteil in the middle with box- 

 trees, sheared, as before, into numerous figures of various forms; and the whole 

 surrounded by a sloping bank, covered with box, rising in steps to the top. In 

 another part of the grounds of the same villa, the box is mentioned as being cut 

 into a variety of shapes and letters; some ex})ressing the name of the master, and 

 others that of the artificer, fcc. The same practice is followed in several Roman 

 gardens at the present day; and, in that of the Vatican, the name of the Pope, 

 the date of his election, &c., may be read from the windows of the palace, in 

 letters of box. In more modern times, in Britain, it is mentioned bv Turner 

 65 



