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The stigmas and stamens are in different flowers, but on the 

 same plant. People dispute as to whether this is a British 

 shrub, but at any rate it has been naturalised long enough to 

 give names to places ; there is a Boxley in Kent, and Boxhill 

 in Surrey. Even in old Gerarde's time it was considered a 

 British tree, for he says, " It groweth upon sundry waste and 

 barren hills in Englande." Like the Yew, this tree used to be 

 tortured and clipped into marvellous shapes, but that fashion is 

 past. Box wood is the best material for wood-engraving, and 

 for mathematical instruments. It is so heavy that it will sink 

 in water. The sight of it brings the pleasant Yorkshire 

 Christmas to my mind, when we have Box, Holly, and Yew in 

 every window, and hung in garlands round every picture, and 

 a row of red Apples stands on the mantlepiece, one for every 

 member of the family, with a shrubby branch of Box stuck in 

 the middle of it. 



We now come to the Nettle tribe ; and though at first sight 

 we may consider that it will complete our large group of un- 

 attractive plants, yet I fancy we may find a greater amount of 

 interest here than we expected. The tribe contains three 

 British families the Nettle, the Pellitory, and the Hop ; and 

 its foreign members include the deadly Upas, the delicious 

 Fig, and the forest Banyan. 



Of our three native species of Nettle the Eoman Nettle 

 (Urtica pilulifera), has the most virulent sting. It bears its 

 flfcwers in round heads, and grows chiefly in the neighbourhood 

 of the sea. 



The Small Nettle (IT. urens), frequents the environs of 

 villages ; indeed my specimen was gathered from the very 

 centre of a hamlet in Swaledale. It has oval leaves and simple 

 clusters, and its sting is less biting than that of its brother 

 above mentioned. 



The Great Nettle (II. dioica), is the commonest and least 

 offensive species. It grows everywhere, and its young shoots 

 used to be eaten generally as a dinner vegetable ; cooked as 



