Buxus 1 7 2' 3 



A shrub or small tree. Young branchlets with a minute pubescence, only- 

 visible with a strong lens. Leaves light green, coriaceous, larger than those of the 

 common box, but similar in shape, elliptic, i to i^ in. long, ^ to fin. wide, emarginate 

 at the apex, minutely pubescent on the upper side of the short petioles, but glabrous 

 elsewhere. Staminate flowers shortly stalked ; pistillate flowers with the styles as 

 long as the ovary. 



This species ^ occurs in the Balearic Isles, and in the province of Granada, 

 in Spain, on the coast at Nerja, near Malaga, and on the Sierra de Almijara, at 2000 

 feet elevation. Loudon^ states that it was introduced into England in 1780. It is 

 perfectly hardy, the oldest specimen at Kew being about 23 ft. high. 



III. Branchlets densely pubescent. 



5. Buxus sempervirens, Linnaeus. Seep. 1724. 



6. Buxus Wallichiana, BaiWon, Monog: Buxac. 63 (1859); Hayata, in Journ. 

 Coll. Sci. Tokyo, xx. 3, p. 84, t. vi. e. (1904). 



Buxus sempervirens,'^. D. Hooker. Fl. Brit. Ind.-v. 267 (1887) (not Linnaeus); Gamble, 



Indian Timbers, 592 (1902). 

 Buxus sempervirens, Linnaeus, var. liukiuensis, Makino, in Tokyo Bot. Mag. ix. 279 (1895), and 



XV. 169 (1901). 

 Buxus liukiuensis, Makino, in Tokyo Bot. Mag. xvi. 179 (1902); Schneider, Laubholzkunde, ii. 



140 (1907). 



A shrub or small tree. Branchlets densely pubescent. Leaves lanceolate, i 

 to 2\ in. long, j to ^ in. wide, rounded or emarginate, with a short point at the 

 apex ; petiole densely pubescent, the pubescence spreading along the midrib on the 

 upper side. Flowers of both sexes sessile ; rudiment of the ovary in the male flower 

 very short, dilated and slightly four-lobed at the apex ; styles in the pistillate flower 

 as long as the ovary, persisting elongated and erect on the fruit. 



B. Wallichiana is widely spread in Asia, occurring in India in the Suliman and 

 Salt ranges, and in the Himalayas from Kumaon to Bhutan (but not in Sikkim), at 

 4000 to 8000 feet. It is common in the mountainous districts of central and 

 southern China, and is the only species known at present in the Liu Kiu Islands 

 and Formosa. Its distribution^ in the Himalayas is local and peculiar ; but it mainly 

 grows along the banks of streams in moist and sheltered places, preferring a northerly 

 aspect ; and is met with on sandstone as well as on limestone. It often occurs in 

 considerable quantity, attaining a large size, trees being recorded as much as 5 ft. in 

 girth ; but is slow in growth, averaging, according to Gamble, about twenty rings 

 per inch of radius. In China,* the box is known as huang-yang, and is of consider- 



1 B. longifolia, Boissier, Diag. Fl. Orient. 107 (1853), and Fl. Orient, iv. 1 144 (1879), of which I have seen no speci- 

 men, is said to occur in the mountains of Syria ; and appears to be closely allied to B. baUarica. It is entirely distinct 

 from B. longifolia, Hort, which appears to be a synonym of ^. Harlandi. Cf. p. 1722, note 4. 



2 Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1341 (1838). His account of the size and distribution of this species, which has been followed 

 by Dallimore, Holly, Yew, and Box, 229 (1908), is erroneous. So far as I can learn, B. balearica is a small tree or shrub, 

 not exceeding thirty feet in height ; and does not occur wild except in the localities mentioned above. Nyman, Consp. Fl. 

 Europ. i. 647 (1878), records it for Sardinia ; but this is doubtiul. 



3 A dwarf box with very small leaves occurs in the Himalayas at high elevations ; and has been referred to B. 

 iaponica, var. microphylla, MUller, by Hooker, Flora Brit. India, v. 267 (1887) ; but is much more pubescent than the 

 Japanese plant, and is probably a distinct species. 



* The species of box in China require further study. Buxus Henryi, Mayr, Fremdldnd. Wald- u. Parkbaume, ^t,\ 

 (1906), described from specimens (No. 3387) collected by me on cUffs near Ichang, in central China, has glabrous branchlets, 



