700 



CCIII. BUXINEJB. 



Box. 



Transverse section of 

 ovary (mag.). 



Box. 



Seed, entire and cut 

 vertically (mag.). 



terminal, in a spike or raceme, one ? terminal (Buxus), or some ? lowest (Sarcococca, 

 Pachy sandra), the others $ . FLOWERS : CALYX deeply 4-partite, lobes decussate, 

 2 lateral outer, enveloping the 2 antero-posterior, imbricate in aestivation. STAMENS 

 4, opposite to the calyx-lobes ; filaments hypogynous, erect, exserted when mature ; 

 anthers 2-celled, introrse, dehiscence longitudinal. OVARY rudimentary, central. 

 FLOWERS ? : CALYX deeply 4-12-partite ; lobes several-seriate, usually whorled in 

 threes, imbricate in aestivation. OVARY superior, 2-3-celled ; styles 2-3, excentric, 

 divergent, stigmatic on their inner face, channelled; ovules geminate in the cells, 

 suspended from the top of the inner angle, anatropous ; raphe dorsal; micropyle superior 

 and ventral. FRUIT 2-3-celled, or 1-celled by arrest, capsular or fleshy (Sarcococca}, 

 loculicidal, or indehiscent, crowned by the persistent styles ; cells 1-2-seeded. 

 SEEDS pendulous ; testa crustaceous, black, brilliant, carunculate. EMBRYO curved, 

 in a fleshy albumen ; radicle superior. 



GENERA. 

 * Jluxus. * Sarcococca. * Pachysandra. Styloceras. Simniondt-ia. 



Buxineee have hitherto been placed amongst Euphorbiacece on account of their fruit with three cells or 

 cocci opening elastically. M. Ple"e, in 1853, separated B\i.i-us as the type of a small family which only 

 differs from Euphorl/iacea; in the absence of milky juice, the peripheric styles leaving the top of the ovary 

 naked, the placentas which are distinct in their upper portion instead of forming a central common axis, 

 ovules constantly with exterior raphe and interior micropyle ; but we have seen in Celantrinea, &c., that 

 the exterior raphe is a character of small value. Biixinete also approach Hamamelidece in their opposite 

 or alternate leaves, inflorescence, dehiscent fruits, seed with exterior raphe and slightly curved embryo 

 in the middle of a copious albumen. 



The Box (Buxus sempervirens) inhabits the Mediterranean regions, whence it spreads to the north of 

 Europe. Another species grows in the Balearic Islands ; three or four others inhabit Asia. The Box 

 with pedicelled flowers, forming the sub-genus Tricera, is American, as well as a species of Pachyt- 

 andra. The other species of Pachysandra and Sarcococca are Asiatic. 



The common Box is a shrub attaining 15 to 20 feet in height, of which a dwarf variety is culti- 

 vated for edgings to borders. The close and homogeneous tissue of its wood renders it valuable for wood- 

 engraving, and it is on Box that the illustrations to this work are engraved. A decoction of the grated 

 wood was formerly used as a sudorific and febrifuge ; its leaves and seeds are purgative. It is often sub- 

 stituted for Hops to give bitterness to beer, but this adulteration is dangerous, as it induces intestinal 

 inflammation. 



