of the reputation it had when John Evelyn praised it so highly 
in his “ Sylva,” where he says, “ If the medicinal properties of 
the leaves, bark, berries, etc., were thoroughly known, I cannot 
tell what our countryman could ail for which he might not fetch 
a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or wound.” 
Occasionally one may find in the hedgerow an Elder with its 
leaflets deeply cut into very slender lobes, so that the leaf has 
resemblance to that of Fool’s Parsley. This is an escape from 
cultivation — a garden variety {lacitiiatd) known as the Cut-leaved 
or Parsley-leaved Elder. 
The Box {Buxus sempervirens). 
Though frequently to be met with in parks and ornamental 
grounds, there are only a few places in this country where the 
Box is really indigenous. These are in the counties of Surrey, 
Kent, Buckingham, and Gloucester. On the famous Box Hill, 
near Dorking, in Surrey, it may be seen attaining its proper 
proportions as a small tree, and in sufficient abundance to form 
groves covering a considerable area. It grows to a height of 
fifteen or twenty feet, with a girth of about twenty inches. Its 
slender branches are clothed with small, oblong, leathery leaves, 
which give out a peculiar and distinctive odour. They are about 
an inch in length, polished on the upper side, evergreen, and 
opposite. 
The flowers may be looked for from January to May, and 
will be found clustered between the leaf and the stem. These 
are quite small and inconspicuous, of a whitish-green colour, 
and the sexes are in separate flowers. The uppermost one in 
the centre of each cluster is a female flower ; the others are 
males. The males consist of four petals, enclosing a rudi- 
mentary ovary, from beneath which spring four stamens. The 
sepals of the female flower vary in number, from four to twelve, 
and enclose a rounded ovary with three styles, which are ripe 
