700 



CGIII. BUXINE^. 



[Geo] 



.CD 



Box. 

 Transverse section of 

 ovary (mag.). 



Box, 



Seed, entire and cat 

 vertically (mag.). 



terminal, in a spike or raceme, one ? terminal (-Bmkws), or some ? lowest {Sarcococca, 

 Pachy Sandra), the others^. Flowbbs^: Calyx deeply 4-partite, lobes decussate, 

 2 lateral outer, enveloping tte 2 antero-posterior, imbricate in sestivation. Stamens 

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

 anthers 2-celled, introrse, dehiscence longitudinal. Ovaet rudimentary, central, — 

 rLOWEKS 9 : Calyx deeply 4-1 2 -partite ; lobes several-seriate, usually whorled in 

 threes, imbricate in sestivation. Ovaky 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, Fbuit 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. Embeyo curved, 

 in a fleshy albumen ; radicle superior. 



aENERA. 



* Buxus. 



* Sarcococca. 



* Pachysandra. 



Styloceras. 



Simmoudsia. 



Bxixinece have hitherto been placed amongst EuphorhiacecB on account of their fruit with three cells or 

 cocci opening elastically. M. Pl(5e, in 1853, separated Suxus as the type of a small family which only 

 diifers from EuphorbiacecB 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 Cela.ttnne<e, &c., that 

 the exterior raphe is a character of small value. Btirineee also approach Hmnamelidece 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 sempermrens) 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 <J flowers, forming the sub-genus Tricera, is American, as well as a species of Pachys- 

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



The common Box is a shrub attaining 16 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 ai'e 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. 



