Chap. 28.] THREE VARIETIES OF THE BOX-TREE. 
369 
box/^ but it is seldom veined, and then only tlie wood of the 
root. In other respects, it is a wood, so to say, of quiet and 
unpretending appearance, but highly esteemed for a certain 
degree of hardness and its pallid hue ; the tree, too, is very 
extensively employed in ornamental gardening.^'' There are 
three varieties of it: the Gallic box, which is trained to 
shoot upwards in a pyramidal form, and attains a very consi- 
derable height; the oleaster,^ which is condemned as being 
utterly worthless, and emits a disagreeable odour ; and a third, 
known as the Italian'' box,^ a wild variety, in my opinion, 
which has been improved by cultivation. This last spreads 
more than the others, and forms a thick hedge : it is an ever- 
green, and is easily clipped. 
The box-tree abounds on the Pyrenean^ range, the moun- 
tains of Cy torus, and the country about Eerecynthus.^ The 
trunk grows to the largest size in the island of Corsica,^ and 
its blossom is by no means despicable ; it is this that causes 
the honey there to be bitter.^ The seed of the box is held in 
aversion by all animals. That which grows upon Mount 
Olympus in Macedonia is not more slender than the other 
kinds, but the tree is of a more stunted growth. It loves 
spots exposed to the cold winds and the sun: in fire, too, it 
manifests all the hardness of iron ; it gives out no flame, and 
is of no use whatever for the manufacture of charcoal.'^ 
^6 The Buxus sempervirens of Linnaeus. 
^" It is still extensively used for a similar purpose. 
There are only two species now known : that previously mentioned, 
and the Buxus Balearica of Lamarck. The first is divided into the four 
varieties, arborescens, angustifolia, suffruticosa, and myrtifolia. 
The Buxus sempervirens of Linnseus ; very common in the south of 
France, and on the banks of the Loire. 
- It is doubtful if this is a box at all. The wild olive, mentioned in B. 
XV. c. 7, has the same name ; all the varieties of the box emit a disagree- 
able smell. 
2 A variety of the Buxus sempervirens, the same as the Buxus suffruti- 
cosa of Lamarck. 
The Pyrenean box is mostly of the arborescent kind. 
* In Phrygia. See B. v. c. 29. 
^ The arborescent variety. 
^ This is doubted by Fee, but it is by no means impossible. In Penn- 
sylvania the bees collect a poisonous honey from the Kalmia latifolia. 
^ A very good charcoal might be made from it, but the wood is too 
valuable for such a purpose. It burns with a bright, clear flame, and 
throws out a considerable heat. 
VOL. III. 
