Buxaceae; Empetraceae 



595 



Fam. 116. BUXACEAE Tsuge Ka Boxwood Family 



Evergreen shrubs or small trees; leaves opposite or alternate, exstipulate; flowers unisexual, small, apetalous, without a disc; 

 calyx 4-lobed or in pistillate flowers sometimes to I2-lobed, sometimes absent; stamens 4, opposite the calyx-lobes, or many, the 

 anthers basifixed; ovary superior, 3-locular, rarely 2- or 4-locular, the ovules 2 in each locule, collateral, rarely solitary, pendulous; 



fruit a capsule or fleshy and indehiscent; seeds with endosperm. About 6 genera, with about 50 species in the Tropics, a few 



in temperate regions. 



lA. Leaves alternate, dentate, usually 3-nerved; procumbent subshrub with spicate inflorescence; pistillate flowers below. . . 1. Pachysandra 

 IB. Leaves opposite, entire, penninerved; small to large shrubs with fasciculate flowers; pistillate flowers terminal 2. Buxus 



1. PACHYSANDRA. Michx. Fukki-s6 Zoku 



Procumbent or ascending suflrutescent subshrubs; stems rather thick; leaves thick, alternate, 3-nerved, dentate; flowers uni- 

 sexual, white, in erect spikes; pistillate flowers below the staminate; staminate flowers of 4 sepals and stamens, the filaments 

 thick, longer than the sepals; pistillate flowers with 4 or more sepals; ovary 2- or 3-locular, the ovules 1 or 2 in each locule; 



styles 2 or 3, spreading; fruit a drupe or composed of 2- or 3-horned dehiscent capsules. About 5 species, in e. Asia and N. 



America. 



1. Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. & Zucc. Fukki-s6. 

 Stems elongate, sparsely branched, creeping and ascending, 

 20-30 cm. long, green, at first puberulent; leaves fasciculate 

 and falsely verticillate, deep green, coriaceous, thick, lustrous, 

 rhombic-obovate, 5-10 cm. long inclusive of the petiole, 2-4 

 cm. wide, cuneate at base, with rather acute coarse teeth on 

 upper margin, 3-nerved, puberulous on nerves above; spikes 

 terminal, erect, sessile, 2-4 cm. long, often becoming lateral by 

 the elongation of the lateral shoots; bracts and sepals broadly 



2, BUXUS L. 



ovate, ciliolate, 2.5-3.5 mm. long; stamens usually 4, some- 

 times 3, about 8 mm. long; pistillate flowers short-pedicelled; 

 fruit a glabrous ovoid drupe, white when mature, about 1.5 

 cm. long, the stones ovoid, about 5 mm. long, the styles 2, 

 persistent, thick, suberect, with minute tubercles or papillae 

 inside. .^pr.-May. Woods in lowlands and low moun- 

 tains; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; frequently culti- 

 vated in gardens. China. 



Tsuge Zoku 



Evergreen shrubs or trees with scaly buds; leaves opposite, short-petiolate, entire, coriaceous, slenderly penninerved, usually 

 glabrous, lustrous; inflorescence fasciculate, axillary and terminal on the branches with a small apetalous pisuUate flower in the 

 center surrounded by several staminate ones; pistillate flowers with 6 sepals, apetalous; ovary 3-locular; styles 3; capsules globose 

 or obovoid, 3-valved, loculicidally dehiscent, each valve terminated by the 2 hornlike persistent lobes of the styles; seeds 2 in 

 each locule, lustrous, oblong. About 30 species, in Eurasia and Centr. America, abundant in se. Asia. 



1. Buxus microphylla Sieb. & Zucc. B. scmpcrvirens 

 var. microphylla (Sieb. & Zucc.) Makino; 5. japonica var. 



microphylla (Sieb. & Zucc.) Muell.-Arg. Hime-tsuge. 



Erect shrub much branched from the base, to 60 cm. high, 

 the branches slender; leaves narrowly obovate or narrowly 

 oblong, 1.2-2 cm. long, 4-7 mm. wide, cuneate at base, slightly 

 thinner than in the following varieties. Mar.-Apr. Culti- 

 vated only, not known in the wild state. 



Var. japonica (Muell.-Arg.) Rehd. & Wils. B. japonica 

 Muell.-Arg.; B. sempert/irens var. suffruticosa sensu Sieb., non 



L.; B. sempervirens var. japonica (Muell.-Arg.) Makino 



Tsuge, Asama-tsuge. Erect shrub or small tree about 1-3 

 m. high, with a main trunk and grayish, glabrous branches, 

 the branchlets 4-angled; leaves coriaceous, opposite, obovate, 

 broadly obovate or oblong, 15-25 (-30) mm. long, 7-13 (-15) 

 mm. wide, rounded, obtuse or retuse, acute at base, nearly 

 sessile, entire, glabrous, lustrous, green above, paler beneath, 

 the midrib raised on both surfaces, the lateral nerves faint. 



ascending, more distinct on the upper side, simple or some- 

 times forked; flowers pale yellow, several in axillary sessile 

 fascicles; sepals 4, elliptic, membranous, small, about 2.5 mm. 

 long, obtuse; stamens 4, 6-7 mm. long, the anthers pale yellow, 

 about 1 mm. long, oblong; capsules ellipsoidal, about 1 cm. 

 long, 3-fid; styles rather thick, persistent, ascending, each bifid 

 when the capsules split; valves of capsule with two hornlike 

 appendages at apex formed from the split styles; seeds black, 

 oblong, 3-angled, smooth. Mar.-Apr. Mountains; Hon- 

 shu (Kanto Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu; local and 

 rare; sometimes cultivated. 

 Var. riparia (Makino) Makino. B. semperuirens var. ri- 



paria Makino; B. riparia (Makino) Makino Ko-tsuge. 



Stems often procumbent; branches rather slender; leaves small, 



oblong or obovate-oblong, 1-2 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide. 



Rocks along rivers in mountains; Honshu (Kii Prov. and Chij- 

 goku Distr.). 



Fam. 117. EMPETRACEAE Ganko-ran Ka Crowberry Family 



Shrubs; leaves evergreen, alternate, small, densely covering the branchlets, with a pulvinus at the base, exstipulate; flowers 

 unisexual or bisexual, small, in axillary or terminal heads; sepals 4-6, subpetaloid, nearly arranged in 2 cycles; petals absent; 

 stamens 2-4, free, the anthers small, 2-locular, longitudinally dehiscent; disc absent; ovary sessile, globose; style short, variously 

 lobed or divided; ovules solitary in each locule, campylotropous; fruit subglobose, drupclike, juicy, the stones 2 or more, each with 



a single seed; seeds with abundant endosperm, the embryo straight, the cotyledons small. Three genera, with about seven 



species, in boreal and alpine regions of the N. Hemisphere and high mountain areas of S. America. 



