Chap. 28.] THREE VARIETIES OF THE BOX-TREE. 369 



box, 96 but it is seldom veined, and then only the wood of the 

 root. In other respects, it is a wood, so to say, of quiet and 

 unpretending appearance, but highly esteemed for a certain 

 degree of hardness and its pallid hue : the tree, too, is very 

 extensively employed in ornamental gardening. 97 There are 

 three 98 varieties of it: the Gallic 99 box, which is trained to 

 shoot upwards in a pyramidal form, and attains a very consi- 

 derable height; the oleaster, 1 which is condemned as being 

 utterly worthless, and emits a disagreeable odour ; and a third, 

 known as the " Italian" box, 2 a wild variety, in my opinion, 

 which has been improved by cultivation. This last spreads 

 more than the others, and forms a thick hedge : it is an ever- 

 green, and is easily clipped. 



The box-tree abounds on the Pyrenean 3 range, the moun- 

 tains of Cytorus, and the country about Berecynthus.* The 

 trunk grows to the largest size in the island of Corsica, 5 and 

 its blossom is by no means despicable ; it is this that causes 

 the honey there to be bitter. 6 The seed of the box is held in 

 aversion by all animals. That which grows upon Mount 

 Olympus in Macedonia is not more slender than the other 

 kinds, but the tree is of a more stunted growth. It loves 

 spots exposed to the cold winds and the sun : in fire, too, it 

 manifests all the hardness of iron ; it gives out no ilaine, and 

 is of no use whatever for the manufacture of charcoal. 7 



96 The Buxus sempervirens of Linnaeus. 



97 It is still extensively used for a similar purpose. 



93 There are only two species now known : that previously mentioned, 

 and the Buxus Balearica of Lamarck. The first is divided into the four 

 varieties, arborescens, angustifolia, suffruticosa, and myrtifolia. 



99 The Buxus sempervirens of Linnaeus ; very common in the south of 

 France, and on the banks of the Loire. 



5 It is doubtful if this is a box at all. The wild olive, mentioned in B. 

 xv. c. 7, has the same name; all the varieties of the box emit a disagree- 

 able smell. 



8 A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus suffruti- 

 cosa of Lamarck. 



;< The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind. 



4 In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29. 



5 The arborescent variety. 



6 This is doubted by I ee, but it is by no means impossible. In Penn- 

 sylvania the bees collect a'poisouous honey from the Kalmia latifolia. 



7 A very good charcoal might be made from it, but the wood is too 

 valuable for such a purpose. It burns with a bright, clear flame, and 

 throws out a considerable heat. 



VOL. III. B B 



