CHAPTER VIII 



Box — White-leaved plants — Poles for climbers — Fuchsias — 

 Hibiscus. 



The garden record for August is very much the same 

 as the record for July ; but in the dry season of 1893 

 seeds and fruits were formed on many plants and 

 shrubs which generally are not produced at all, or, if 

 produced, come too late for ripening. Among these 

 unusual fruits were the curious fruits of the common 

 box-tree, and they are very curious, and well worth 

 observing. For the box belongs to the great family of 

 the Euphorbias or Spurges, a family which consists 

 of more than 2500 species, and is spread all over 

 the world, but which in Great Britain is confined 

 to nine species of spurges, two species of dog's mer- 

 cury (Mercurialis), and one species of box. The affinity 

 of the box with the spurges is not very apparent when 

 we compare our common box with the spurges which 



