LXIV. 



703 



oval- lanceolate, pointed at both ends, and entire. Male flowers upon very 



short pedicels. Female flowers ?. Male flowers disposed in spikes, part 



lateral, part terminal, and having a 3-cleft, 



rather flat, calyx, and 3 stamens that have 



kidney-shaped anthers ; bracteas 1 2-glanded 



and 1 -flowered. (Nutt.) A deciduous shrub. 



Carolina and Georgia, in shady woods. Height 



3ft. to 4ft. Introduced in 1812. Flowers 



yellowish ; June and July. 



We are not aware that this species is now in 

 existence, in a living state, in England. 



GENUS JI. 



BU'XUS Tourn. THE Box TREE. Lin. Syst. Monce r cia Tetrandria. 



Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 345. ; Eng. Flora, 4. p. 132. 



Synonymes. Buis, Fr. ; Buxbaum, Buchsbaum, Ger. ; Bossolo, Ital. 



Derivation. From pufcnos, dense ; in reference to the hardness and closeness of the wood ; or, 

 perhaps, to the denseness of the foliage. The Greeks called the boxes made of this wood, which 

 were highly esteemed for their durability, pyxides; and hence, probably, arose the word pyx, 

 which is used for the chest containing the Host in the Roman Catholic church. 



Gen. Char. Flowers unisexual, monoecious. Male. Calyx of 4 minute leaves. 

 Stamens 4, inserted under the rudiment of a pistil. Female. Flowers singly, 

 at the tip of groups of male ones. Calyx as in the male. Styles 3. Stigmas 

 3. Fruit a regma, leathery, beaked with the styles, (G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, opposite, exstipulate, evergreen ; entire, smooth, stalked. 

 Flowers axillary, aggregate, whitish. Fruit green. Shrubs or small trees, 

 evergreen, with rigid leaves and whitish buds ; natives of Europe and 

 Asia ; of easy culture in any soil that is tolerably dry ; and propagated freely 

 by division of the plant, by cuttings, or by seeds. 



1*1.1?. SEMPERVI^RENS L. The evergreen, or common, Box Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PL, 1394. ; Smith Eng. Flora, 4. p. 133. ; Baxt. Brit. Flow. PL, 2. t. 142. 

 Synonymes. l?uxus Raii Syn. 445. ; Buis commun, Bois beni, Fr. ; Buchsbaum, Ger. ; Busso, 



Bossolo, Ital. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1341. ; and our Jig. 1377. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Disk of leaf ovate, convex ; footstalk slightly downy at the 

 edges. Anthers ovate-arrow-shaped. (Smith.) A low evergreen tree. Eu- 

 rope; in England, on Boxhill in Surrey, Chequers in Buckinghamshire, 

 and other places, apparently wild. Height 15 ft. to 30ft. Flowers whitish ; 

 April and May. Fruit greenish j ripe in August. 



Varieties and Subvarieties. 



1 B. s. 1 arborescens Mill. Diet. No. 1. Buis arborescent, Fr. ; hoch- 

 stammige Buchsbaum, Ger. Arborescent. Leaves ovate. This is 

 the most common form of the species. 



1 B. s. a. argentea Hort. Arborescent. Leaves ovate, varie- 

 gated with a silvery colour. 

 1 B. s. a. aurea Hort. Arborescent. Leaves ovate, variegated 



with a golden colour. 

 ? B. s. a. margindta Hort. Arborescent. Leaf ovate, with a 



margin of a golden colour. 



? B. s. 2 angustifolia Mill. Diet. No. 2. Arborescent. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate. 



1 B. s. a. variegata Hort. Arborescent. Leaves lanceolate, 

 variegated. 



