EUPHORBIACE*. 



737 



branches. Leaves stalked, ovate or ob- 

 long, rather coarsely toothed, of a thin 

 texture. Male flowers clustered, as in 

 the perennial M., along slender pe- 

 duncles nearly as long as the leaves. 

 Females 2 or 3 together, either sessile 

 or shortly stalked, in the axils of the 

 leaves, usually on separate plants from 

 the males. 



In cultivated and waste places ; very 

 common in central and southern Europe 

 and eastward to the Caucasus, more rare 

 towards the north, and only as an in- 

 troduced weed of cultivation in Scan- 

 dinavia. Not generally common in 

 England or Ireland, very local and 

 doubtfully indigenous in Scotland. Fl. 

 the whole summer and autumn. A va- 

 riety with more sessile leaves and flowers, 

 the latter often monoecious, has been described as a species, under the 

 name of M. ambigua (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2816). It is not common, 

 even on the Continent, but has been found in Jersey and in the south 

 of England. 



Fig. 890. 



III. BOX. BUXUS. 



Flowers monoecious, the males and females clustered in the same 

 axil, but not enclosed in a common involucre. Perianth small, of 4 

 segments. Stamens 4 in the male flowers. Styles 3 in the females. 

 Capsule 3-celled, with 2 seeds in each cell. 



A genus probably limited to a single species. 



1. Common Box. Buxus sempervirens, Linn. (Fig. 891.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1341.) 



A glabrous, much branched, evergreen shrub, attaining 6 or 8 feet 

 in height when left uncut. Leaves opposite, entire, thick and shin- 

 ing, varying from ovate to oblong, \ to 1 inch long. Flowers small, 

 green, and sessile, usually several males and one or two females in the 

 same axillary cluster, the former w T ith one small bract under the pe- 

 rianth, the female with 3 bracts. Capsule sessile, ovoid, of a hard con- 

 sistence, about 3 or 4 lines long, ending in 3 stiff, short beaks. 



VOL. II. T 



