THE BOX IN BRITAIN 29 



beginning of Asser's Life of Kinrf Alfred appears to show that it 

 was plentiful in Berkshire 1000 years since. His words are — 

 • Berrocscire ; quae paga taliter vocatur a * berroc ' sylva ubi 

 buxus abundantissime nascitur.' See Phyt. iv. (1853), 873. 



*'In the edition of Camden published in 1610, it states that 

 'Asterius Menevensis deriveth the name [of the county] from a 

 certaine wood called Berroc, where grew good store of Box.' 



'' At Buckland there are some very fine specimens of the Box, 

 and it is also well grown at Besilsleigh, Kingston Bagpuze, and at 

 Park Place, where Mr. Stanton tells me it reproduces itself from 

 seeds in the woods. In Mavor's Agr. Berks it is said to grow near 

 Wallingford. 



" The Box is a possible native of Surrey at Boxhill, and on the 

 Chilterns near Velvet Lawn and near Dunstable, Bucks. In the 

 other bordering counties it is certainly introduced." 



It is certainly a prevalent idea, that as Buckinghamshire is the 

 country of the Beech, so Berkshire is the country of the Berroc or 

 Box, but I understand that there may be philological objections to 

 it. If true, it would most strikingly confirm Graf zu Solms- 

 Laubach's most ingenious idea. The matter is certainly worth 

 prosecuting, and I print these few notes in the hope of inciting 

 some young botanist to so attractive a task. 



G. R. M. Murray. 



It has hitherto been considered doubtful whether the Box is 

 indigenous in Britain — some botanists excluding it, and others 

 admitting it, more or less doubtfully, as a native. Watson does 

 not mention it in Topogrccphical Botany, and in the Cybele calls it a 

 "denizen." Syme [E^iglish Botany, ed. 3, viii. 94) considers that 

 there is " some likelihood of its being truly native on Boxhill, 

 Surrey," the only other counties in which there is " any possibility 

 of its being a genuine native" being Kent, Bucks, and Gloucester. 

 My attention being drawn to the subject by a reference in a letter 

 from Sir J. D. Hooker as to its occurrence in the last-named 

 county, I have endeavoured, with the kind assistance of Mr. G. H. 

 Wollaston and Mr. J. W. White, to throw some light on the 

 question. 



The Box wood to which Sir Joseph referred is situated between 

 Wootton-under-Edge and Alderley, clothing the hill- side for a 

 considerable distance ; although the shrub flourishes luxuriantly 

 and produces abundance of seedlings in the wood itself, it does not 

 appear to have extended into the neighbouring wooded hill-sides 

 and valleys. There is nothing here to indicate whether it is native 

 or not, except the presence of some larches, which, being introduced 

 trees, would perhaps suggest a similar origin for the Box. It is 

 shown as a wood both in the one-inch and six-inch Ordnance maps, 

 the fact that it consists of Box not being in any way indicated ; 

 but about three miles away, nearly due east, in a valley which 

 extends in a north-easterly direction from Alderley, there is marked 

 the name of Boxwell, suggesting that some traces of the Box might 

 be found there. On visiting the locality this proved to be the case; 



