122 FAMILIAR TREES 



Japan, in the Western Himalayas, in Northern and 

 Western Asia, in North Africa, and as far north 

 as Belgium and this country, where, as we shall see 

 presently, there is considerable reason to believe it 

 to be either indigenous, or a denizen the introduc- 

 tion of which dates from a very early period. In a 

 Avild state in this country it is seldom more than 

 twelve or fifteen feet high, or, when fully grown, 

 more than six or eight inches in diameter ; but in 

 Turkey and Asia Minor, and even in the Jardin 

 des Plantes at Paris, trees thirty feet high and ten 

 inches in diameter are recorded. Such specimens 

 must, however, be at least 100 years old, as the 

 Box is a very slow -growing plant, rarely making 

 shoots of more than six or eight inches height 

 within the year, and not increasing in diameter 

 more than an inch in ten years. The tree is not 

 only apparently of great longevity, but is so 

 hardy as to be the only evergreen that can with- 

 stand the continental cold of the open air of Paris, 

 Berlin, and Vienna without protection. 



The young branches, which have generally an 

 upward direction, are downy and have a smooth, 

 yellowish bark ; but the older trunks are rough and 

 grey. The twigs are four-angled, and the buds very 

 small. The leaves vary from " ovate " to " oblong," 

 i.e. they may be wider across the lower third of their 

 length, or may have parallel sides ; they have very 

 short stalks, edged with two lines of minute hairs ; 

 they vary in length from half an inch to an inch; 

 their points are rounded or slightly notched ; and 

 their colour depends considerably on their age and 



