''Buxus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of about seventy species in the family
Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are
native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, with the majority of species being tropical or subtropical; only the European and some Asian species are
frost
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above- freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...
-tolerant.
Centres of diversity
A center of origin is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties. They are also considered centers of diversity. Centers of origin were first identified in 1924 by Ni ...
occur in Cuba (about 30 species), China (17 species) and Madagascar (9 species).
They are slow-growing
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
shrubs and small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, growing to 2–12 m (rarely 15 m) tall. The
leaves are opposite, rounded to lanceolate, and leathery; they are small in most species, typically 1.5–5 cm long and 0.3–2.5 cm broad, but up to 11 cm long and 5 cm broad in ''B. macrocarpa''. The flowers are small and yellow-green,
monoecious
Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy.
Monoecy i ...
with both sexes present on a plant. The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
is a small capsule 0.5–1.5 cm long (to 3 cm in ''B. macrocarpa''), containing several small
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s.
The genus splits into three genetically distinct sections, each section in a different region, with the Eurasian species in one section, the African (except northwest Africa) and Madagascan species in the second, and the American species in the third. The African and American sections are genetically closer to each other than to the Eurasian section.
Selected species
Europe, northwest Africa, Asia
*''
Buxus austro-yunnanensis
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Yunnan box; southwest China)
*''
Buxus balearica'' (Balearic box;
Balearic Islands, southern Spain, northwest Africa)
*''
Buxus bodinieri
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (China)
*''
Buxus cephalantha
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (China)
*''
Buxus cochinchinensis
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
)
*''
Buxus colchica
''Buxus colchica'' (syn. ''B. hyrcana'') is a species of ''Buxus'' native to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey. It is threatened by habitat loss and defoliation by the caterpillars of an introduced moth species, '' Cydalima perspectalis''.
...
'' (Georgian box; western Caucasus; considered also a
syn.
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...
of ''B. sempervirens'')
*''
Buxus hainanensis
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (Hainan box; China: Hainan)
*''
Buxus harlandii
''Buxus harlandii'', the Harland boxwood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Buxaceae. It is native to coastal southeast China, from Hong Kong and other Guangdong islands down to Hainan, and to Vietnam. Care must be taken when purchas ...
'' (Harland's box; southern China, Vietnam)
*''
Buxus hebecarpa
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (China)
*''
Buxus henryi
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Henry's box; China)
*''
Buxus hyrcana
''Buxus sempervirens'', the common box, European box, or boxwood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Buxus'', native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from southern England south to northern Morocco ...
'' (Caspian box; Alborz, eastern Caucasus; considered also a
syn.
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...
of ''B. sempervirens'')
*''
Buxus ichangensis'' (China)
*''
Buxus latistyla'' (China)
*''
Buxus linearifolia
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (China)
*''
Buxus megistophylla'' (China)
*''
Buxus microphylla'' (Japanese box; Korea, China, Vietnam; long cultivated in
Japan)
*''
Buxus mollicula'' (China)
*''
Buxus myrica'' (China, Vietnam)
*''
Buxus papillosa'' (western Himalaya)
*''
Buxus pubiramea'' (China)
*''
Buxus rivularis'' (
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
)
*''
Buxus rolfei
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native plant, native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, north ...
'' (Borneo)
*''
Buxus rugulosa
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (China, eastern Himalaya)
*''
Buxus rupicola
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Malaysia)
*''
Buxus sempervirens
''Buxus sempervirens'', the common box, European box, or boxwood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Buxus'', native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from southern England south to northern Morocc ...
'' (common box or European box; western and southern Europe, except far southwest)
*''
Buxus sinica'' (Chinese box; China, Korea, Japan)
*''
Buxus stenophylla'' (China)
*''
Buxus wallichiana
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Himalayan box; Himalaya)
Africa, Madagascar
*''
Buxus acuminata'' (Africa: Zaire; syn. ''Notobuxus acuminata'')
*''
Buxus calcarea'' (Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus capuronii'' (Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus hildebrandtii'' (eastern Africa: Somalia, Ethiopia)
*''
Buxus humbertii
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Humbert's box; Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus itremoensis
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus lisowskii
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Congo)
*''
Buxus macowanii'' (Cape box; eastern and northern South Africa)
*''
Buxus macrocarpa'' (Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus madagascarica'' (Madagascan box; Madagascar, Comoros)
*''
Buxus monticola'' (Madagascar endemic)
*''
Buxus moratii'' (Madagascar, Comoros)
*''
Buxus natalensis'' (Natal box; eastern South Africa; syn. ''Notobuxus natalensis'')
*''
Buxus nyasica
''Buxus nyasica'' is a species of plant in the family Buxaceae. It is endemic to Malawi. It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat become ...
'' (Malawi)
*''
Buxus obtusifolia'' (eastern Africa; syn. ''Notobuxus obtusifolia'')
*''
Buxus rabenantoandroi'' (Madagascar endemic; syn. ''B. angustifolia'' GE Schatz & Lowry ''non'' Mill.)
Americas
*''
Buxus aneura
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost Sout ...
'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus arborea'' (Jamaica)
*''
Buxus bartletii'' (Central America)
*''
Buxus brevipes'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus citrifolia'' (Venezuela)
*''
Buxus crassifolia'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus ekmanii'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus excisa
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus heterophylla'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus imbricata'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus lancifolia'' (Mexico)
*''
Buxus macrophylla'' (Central America)
*''
Buxus mexicana
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Mexico)
*''
Buxus muelleriana'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus olivacea'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus pilosula'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus portoricensis'' (Puerto Rico)
*''
Buxus pubescens
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
'' (Mexico)
*''
Buxus rheedioides'' (Cuba)
*''
Buxus vahlii
''Buxus vahlii'', or Vahl's boxwood, is a rare species of plant in the boxwood family. It is native to Puerto Rico and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where it is known from no more than four populations total. It has probably never bee ...
'' (Vahl's box or smooth box; Puerto Rico; syn. ''B. laevigata'')
Selected cultivars
*
''Buxus'' 'Green Velvet' ''
*
''Buxus microphylla'' var. ''koreana'' 'Winter Gem'
Uses
Cultivation
Box plants are commonly grown as
hedge
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...
s and for
topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
.
In Britain and mainland Europe, box is subject to damage from
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...
s of
''
Cydalima perspectalis'' which can devastate a box hedge within a short time. This is a recently introduced species first noticed in Europe in 2007 and in the UK in 2008 but spreading. There were 3 UK reports of infestation in 2011, 20 in 2014 and 150 in the first half of 2015.
Wood carving
Owing to its fine grain it is a good wood for fine
wood carving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
, although this is limited by the small sizes available. It is also resistant to splitting and chipping, and thus useful for
decorative or
storage
Storage may refer to:
Goods Containers
* Dry cask storage, for storing high-level radioactive waste
* Food storage
* Intermodal container, cargo shipping
* Storage tank
Facilities
* Garage (residential), a storage space normally used to store car ...
boxes. Formerly, it was used for wooden combs. As a timber or wood for carving it is "boxwood" in all varieties of English.
Owing to the relatively high density of the
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...
, boxwood is often used for
chess piece
A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn.
Chess sets generally come with si ...
s; unstained boxwood for the white pieces, and stained ('
ebonized') boxwood for the black pieces in lieu of
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
.
The extremely fine
endgrain of box makes it suitable for
woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is creat ...
and
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only t ...
blocks, for which it was the usual material in Europe. In the 16th century, boxwood was used to create intricate decorative carvings, including intricate
rosary prayer beads. As of 2016, the largest collection of these carvings is at the
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Be ...
in Toronto.
High quality wooden spoons have usually been carved from box, with
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...
being the usual cheaper substitute.
Musical instruments
Due to its high density, resistance to chipping, and relatively low cost, boxwood has been used to make parts for various
stringed instruments since antiquity. It is mostly used to make tailpieces, chin rests and tuning pegs, but may be used for a variety of other parts as well. Other woods used for this purpose are
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...
and ebony.
Boxwood was a common material for the manufacture of
recorders in the eighteenth century, and a large number of mid- to high-end instruments made today are produced from one or other species of boxwood. Boxwood was once a popular wood for other woodwind instruments, and was among the traditional woods for
Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as
cocuswood,
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
, and
African blackwood.
Historical
Prior to the development of
plastics
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
, boxwood was important to a wide range of fields from engineering to arts, construction to cartography, due to its density and stability making it one of the best available materials for measurement
scales and
technical drawing
Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and Academic discipline, discipline of composing Plan (drawing), drawings that Visual communication, visually communicate how something functions or is constructed.
Technical drawing is essent ...
rulers. Alternative materials of the era were
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals ...
, paper, and metal. Disadvantages of ivory included that it would slightly shrink over time, the size and shape of blanks was limited by that of the tusk, and supply was limited. Paper was soft, difficult to use, and did not last long. Metal marked the surface it was being used on and increased expense. Ebony was another dense and stable wood prized for drawing instruments but typically only if scales were not necessary; boxwood's light color contrasted much better with scales.
Devices made of boxwood included
set squares, scale rulers,
yardsticks, folding rulers,
slide rules,
Marquois scales, T-squares,
protractors
A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry derives from two Greek words, γωνία (''gōnía'') 'angle' and μέτρον (''métron'') 'me ...
, and a wide range of other measuring, metering, and straight-edge devices and tools, as well as general functional items such as
combs, weaving
shuttles, etc.
A ''boxwood rule'' generally refers to a style of folding ruler with brass hinge(s).
General Thomas F. Meagher decorated the hats of the men of the
Irish Brigade with boxwood during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
, as he could find no
shamrock
A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive o ...
.
See also
*
Bibliography of hedges and topiary
*
Boxwood blight
* ''
Cydalima perspectalis'' – box tree moth
References
External links
Box / Royal Horticultural SocietyAmerican Boxwood SocietyRevision of the genus Buxus in Madagascar(pdf file)
{{Authority control
Eudicot genera
Plants used in bonsai
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus