smooth, stalked, opposite, entire leaves. Flowers aggregate, from axillary buds, whitish. Fruit green. (Smith Eng. Fl., iv. p. 132.) GENUS I. EUPHORBIA L. THE EUPHORBIA, or SPURGE. Lin. Syst. Monce'cia Monándria. Identification. Lin. Gen., 243.; Lam. Ill., t. 411.; Smith Eng. Fl., 4. p. 58. Synonymes. Tithymalus Tourn. Inst.,t. 18., Gartn. Fruct., t. 107. ; Euphorbe, Fr.; Wolfsmilch, Ger. Derivation. From Euphorbus, physician to Juba, king of Mauritania, who is said first to have used some of the plants of this genus in medicine. Description, &c. This genus consists of milky plants, most of which are herbaceous, but two or three of which are rather woody. The flowers of the hardy kinds are generally of a greenish colour, which renders them inconspicuous; and they have all an extremely acrid juice, which has the appearance of milk. This juice was formerly considered medicinal, and is still used occasionally to destroy warts, or for raising slight blisters. The plants are propagated by division. The only two worth cultivating, as shrubby, appear to us to be the E. Charàcias L. and E. spinòsa L. 1212 E. Characias L., Mart. Mill., No. 95., Smith Eng. Fl., iv. p. 68., Eng. Bot., t. 442.; E. aléppica of some gardens; and our fig. 1212. An upright, bushy, leafy plant, green in its foliage, and purplish brown in the bark of its shoots, which are mostly unbranched. The flowers are in stalked panicles a few in each panicle, and the panicles are disposed racemosely along the upper portions of the shoots. The more obviously coloured part of the inflorescence is of a dark purple. The scent of the flowers is powerfully fetid and disagreeable. The plant, in a sheltered nook, under a wall, will attain to the height of 3 ft. or more (in Martyn's Miller, 5 ft. or 6 ft.); and is interesting, even when not in flower, from its being evergreen, and from the character of its foliage; the leaves being lanceolate, acute, entire, downy, dark green, and spreading every way. (Smith Eng. Fl., and observation.) It is indigenous in France, Spain, and Italy, according to Willd. Sp. Pl.; and, according to Mr. Whately, as quoted in Eng. Fl., it is very plentiful in the Forest of Needwood, Staffordshire, and undoubtedly wild there. A plant which we have had in our garden, at Bayswater, since 1828, was found wild by us, in the July of that year, in a wood belonging to John Perry, Esq., at Stroud House, near Hazlemere. It forms a dense evergreen bush, admirably adapted for rockwork; its fine, dark, bluish green, shining leaves, with which the shoots are densely clothed, render it highly ornamental at every season of the year; and its flowers, which appear in February, continue on the plant through the spring and part of the following summer. E. spinosa L., Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 45, and our fig. 1209.- A leafy, shrubby plant; a native of the south of Europe; generally kept in green-houses in Britain, where it assumes the character of an erect shrub, about 2 ft. high, with a decidedly ligneous stem. The tips of the branches become dry with age, and as, though withered, they continue on the plant, they have the appearance of spines. It was cultivated by Miller, in 1752, but is rare in British collections. In the open air, in the Botanic Garden at Cambridge, it is a recumbent shrub. It is not easily propagated by cuttings made in the common way, but is said to grow readily from cuttings of the roots. 1213 App. i. Half-hardy Species of Euphorbia. E. dendroides L. is a native of Italy, Crete, and of the Island of Hieres, near Toulon, where it forms a small branched shrub, about 4 ft. high. E. Characias and E. dendroides, according to Dr. Philippi, grow in the streams of decayed lava on Etna. E. dendroides, he adds, is one of the finest shrubs in Sicily, and rises to a height of about 6 ft., the stem forking soon above the ground, and each branch divided again, so that the form of the whole is perfectly semiglobular. In summer it is quite bare of foliage, when the numerous, smooth, verticillate branches give the plant a most singular appearance; but with the rains of autumn the numerous linear leaves begin to sprout forth at the end of the boughs, and a corymb of yellow flowers tips the extremity of each in February." (Comp. to the Bot. Mag., i. 51.) E. mellifera Ait., Bot. Mag., t. 1305., and our fig.1214., is a handsome free-growing shrub, a native of Madeira. A plant stood out in the Trinity College Botanic Garden, at Dublin, from 1821 to 1831, forming a bush about 44 ft. high, and 5 ft. in diameter, flowering all the winter. It was cut down by the severe frost of the spring of 1831, but sprang up again; and it is now (Sept. 1836), Mr. Mackay inforins us, nearly 5 ft. in height, and 5 ft. in diameter. E. Characias, in the same garden, rarely exceeds 2 ft. in height. Other species, natives of the Levant, the Canaries, Portugal, and North and South America, may possibly be found as hardy as E. mellifera. In the Vues Phytostatiques of Webb and Bertholet's Histoire Naturelle des Пles Canaries, the E. canariensis and E. piscatòria are represented in pl 2. as the prevailing species; the latter forming handsome trees, from 10 ft. to 15 ft. high, with straight, erect stems GENUS II. 1214 STILLINGIA Garden. THE STILLINGIA. Monadelphia. Lin. Syst. Mono'cia Identification. "Stillingia was sent under that name to Linnæus by the celebrated Dr. Alexander Garden." (Smith in Rees's Cyclop.) Lin. Mant., 19.; Schreb. Lin. Gen., 658.; Smith in Rees's Cyclop.; Mart. Mill. Dict. Derivation. Named by Dr. Alexander Garden in honour of Mr. Benjamin Stilling fleet, author of a work entitled Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Natural History, &c., partly translated from the writings of Linnæus. Description, &c. The only hardy species is a deciduous shrub; a native of North America. 1. S. LIGU'STRINA Willd. The Privet-leaved Stillingia. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 588.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 608. Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby. Leaf consisting of a petiole and a disk that is oval-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, and entire. Male flowers upon very short pedicels. (Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., ii. p. 213.) Nuttall has questioned whether the sexes are not dioecious, and has noted the female flowers as "not seen," but the male ones as being disposed in spikes, part lateral, part terminal, and as having a 3-cleft, rather flat, calyx, and 3 stamens that have kidney-shaped anthers; and the bracteas as 1-2-glanded and 1-flowered. (Nutt. Gen. Amer.) A deciduous shrub, growing about 4 ft. high; a native of North America, in shady woods, in Carolina and Georgia; flowering in June and July. It was introduced in 1812, and plants were in the collection of Messrs. Loddiges in 1830. From these gentlemen we received a plant in that year, but it is since dead; as is also a plant of this species in the Hackney arboretum; we are not aware that the species is now in existence, in a living state, in England. GENUS III. BU'XUS Tourn. THE BOX TREE. Lin. Syst. Mono'cia Tetrandria. Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 345.; Lin. Gen., 486.; Smith Eng. Flora, 4. p. 132. ; Theodor Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. Plant. Floræ Germanicæ, fasc. 3. t. 16. Synonymes. Buis, Fr.; Buxbaum, Buchsbaum, Ger. Derivation. From puknor, dense; in reference to the hardness and closeness of the wood; or, perhaps, to the denseness of the foliage. The Greeks called the boxes made of this wood, which were highly esteemed for their durability, pyrides; and hence, probably, arose the word pyx, which is used for the chest containing the Host in the Roman Catholic church. Description, &c. Low evergreen trees or shrubs, with shining coriaceous leaves, and greenish yellow flowers; natives of Europe, and the temperate parts of Asia; of easy culture in any soil that is tolerably dry; and propagated freely by cuttings, or by seeds. 11. B. SEMPERVI'RENS L. The evergreen, or common, Box Tree. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1394.; Smith Eng. Flora, 4. p. 133.; Baxt. Brit. Flow. Pl., 2. t. 142. Synonymes. Búxus Rai Syn., 445., Ger. Emac., 1410. f., and other authors; Buis commun, Bois beni, Fr.; Buchsbaum, Ger.; Busso, Bossolo, Mortel, Ital. Engraving. Eng. Bot., t. 1341. Spec. Char., &c. Disk of leaf ovate, convex; footstalk slightly downy at the edges. Anthers ovate-arrow-shaped. (Smith's Eng. Fl., iv. p. 133.) A low evergreen tree, a native of many parts of Europe, and, according to some, including Britain; growing to the height of from 15 ft. to 30 ft.; and flowering in April and May. Varieties and Subvarieties. B. s. 1 arborescens Mill. Dict., No. 1.; Buis arborescent, Fr.; hochstaninge Buchsbaum, Ger. Arborescent. Leaves ovate. (Willd. Sp. Pl.) This is the most common form of the species. B. s. a. argentea Hort.- Arborescent. Leaves ovate, variegated with a silvery colour. B. s. a. aurea Hort. Arborescent. Leaves ovate, variegated with a golden colour. B. s. a. marginata Hort.- Arborescent. Leaf ovate, with a margin of a golden colour. B. s. 2 angustifolia Mill. Dict., No. 2. Arborescent. Leaves lanceolate. (Willd. Sp. Pl.) ↑ B. s. a. variegata Hort.- Arborescent. Leaves lanceolate, variegated. 1215 B. s. 3 suffruticosa Mill. Dict., No. 3.; B. humilis Dod. Pempt., 782.; B. s. nàna N. Du Ham., i. p. 83.; and our fig. 1215.; Buis nain, Buis à Bordures, Buis d'Artois, Buis de Hollande, petit Buis, Fr.; zwerch Buchsbaum, Ger.Dwarf. Leaves small, obovate. (Lam. Encyc. Willd. Sp. Pl.) This is the kind usually cultivated for edging beds in gardens. B. s. 4 myrtifolia Lam. Encyc. - Dwarf. Leaves small, oblong, narrowish. (Lam. Encyc., i. p. 505.; Willd. Sp. Pl.) A pretty little plant; generally quite low, but, under favourable circumstances, growing to a considerable size. Description, &c. The box is a well-known hardy evergreen tree or shrub, much esteemed in Europe, both for ornamental and useful purposes. In a wild state, it seldom exceeds the height of 12 ft. or 15 ft. in Britain; but, in Turkey and Asia Minor, trees of it have been found as high as 25 ft. The thickness of the trunk is very considerable in proportion to its height, and, in fullgrown trees, varies from 6 in. to 8 in. in diameter. The bark is yellowish on the young wood, but rough and greyish on the trunk of old trees. The leaves are opposite, oval, and almost sessile: they are persistent, of a coriaceous texture, and a shining yellowish green, when they grow in a situation fully exposed to the light; but of a fine deep glossy green when shaded by other trees. The flowers are of a greenish yellow, and are disposed in little tufts in the axils of the leaves. The tree will bear the knife patiently, and is therefore, and from the closeness of its habit of growth, well adapted for clipped hedges, and all kinds of verdant architecture and statuary. "The box," says a French writer, "has the advantage of taking any form that may be wished, under the hands of the gardener. Here it displays a niche cut in an apparently solid green bank; there, an arbour impenetrable to the rays of the sun. On one side it covers a wall with a tapestry of continual verdure, and on the other it clothes a palisade: now it divides the walks of a garden, and now it marks out the figure of a parterre. In all cases, it presents a most agreeable verdure to the eyes, and preserves the idea of cheerfulness even in winter, when almost every other tree appears mourning for the absence of the sun." (Nouv. Cours. d'Agri., tom. iii. p. 276.) It grows slowly, rarely making shoots of more than 6 in. or 8 in. annually. But the tree is of great longevity; and so extremely hardy, that it is the only evergreen that will stand in the open air, without protection, in the gardens of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. Geography. The box is found wild throughout Europe and Asia, between 37° and 52° of N. lat., on mountains, and spreading as undergrowth among other trees, but never forming forests entirely by itself. The largest collections of wild box trees in Europe are in the Forest of Ligny in France, and in that of St. Claude on Mount Jura; but in both cases the box trees are mixed with trees of other species. Box trees are also found in forests of other trees, in several parts of France; particularly in Franche Compté, Dauphiné, Haute Provence, the chain of mountains stretching across Languedoc, and the Pyrenees. The box tree is produced abundantly in Turkey, and on the shores of the Black Sea; but a great proportion of the boxwood of commerce, sold in the European markets as Turkey box, is grown in Circassia and Georgia, whence it is brought to Odessa, and shipped for Europe. It is found in various parts of Persia, China, Cochin-China, and, according to some, in Japan. In Britain, the box is a disputed native. (See p. 25.) It grows plentifully upon Box Hill, near Dorking, in Surrey: not among deciduous trees, and shaded by them, as it does in its native habitats in France, and in other parts of the Continent; but only mixed with a few juniper bushes, that do not rise so high as itself. Ray mentions three other habitats; viz. Boxwell, in Gloucestershire; Boxley, in Kent; and the chalk hills near Dunstable: but the box tree does not appear to be now found growing in uncultivated ground any where in Britain, but on Box Hill. In Baxter's British Flowering Plants, vol. ii. p. 145., it is stated, on the authority of the Rev. Archdeacon Pierson, to be found in the hedges about Kilburne, near Coxwold, in Yorkshire; which, however, is no proof of its being indigenous. History. The box tree appears to have been first mentioned by Theophrastus, who ranks the wood with that of ebony, on account of the closeness of its grain. Pliny describes it as being as hard to burn as iron, as producing no flame, and as being totally unfit for charcoal. He distinguishes three kinds, which he calls the larger, the smaller, and the Italian box; and speaks of the use of the tree for topiary work, and of the wood for musical instruments. Vitruvius also recommends the box for topiary work; and it appears to have been much employed in verdant sculpture, and close-clipped hedges, in the gardens of Roman villas in the Augustan age. Pliny describes his Tusculan villa as having a lawn adorned with figures of animals cut out in box trees, answering alternately to one another. This lawn was again surrounded by a walk enclosed with evergreen shrubs, sheared into a variety of forms. Beyond this was a place of exercise, of a circular form, ornamented in the middle with box trees, sheared, as before, into numerous different figures; and the whole fenced in by a sloping bank, covered with box, rising in steps to the top. In another part of the grounds of the same villa, the box is mentioned as being cut into a variety of shapes and letters; some expressing the name of the master, and others that of the artificer, &c. (Plin. Epist., book v. letter vi.) The same practice is followed in several Roman gardens at the present day; and, in that of the Vatican, the name of the pope, the date of his election, &c., may be read from the windows of the palace in letters of box. Virgil calls it "Smooth-grain'd, and proper for the turner's trade, DRYDEN'S Virgil. Both Virgil and Ovid allude to the use of this wood for musical instruments, and employ the word box as if synonymous with that of flute. In more modern times, in Britain, it is mentioned by Turner, Gerard, Parkinson, and other writers on gardening and rural affairs; and, previously to the eighteenth century, was in great repute for gardens in the geometric style, from the facility with which it could be made to assume whatever form the gardener wished: it was also highly valuable when there were but few evergreens grown in England, from its hardy habit, and the liveliness of its hue. The wood of the tree has been in use for turnery from the carliest ages, and for wood engraving since the fifteenth century. Properties and Uses. The wood of the box is remarkably heavy; weighing, when newly cut, 80 lb. 7 oz. per cubic foot, and, when perfectly dry, 68 lb. 12 oz. and 7 gr. It is the only European wood that will sink in water: it is yellow, very hard, and susceptible of a fine polish. The wood was formerly much used in England in cabinet-making and inlaying, as it still is in France; and, also, in both countries, for musical and mathematical instruments, combs, and various articles of turnery. The principal use of the boxwood, however, at present, is for wood engraving; and for this purpose it is an important article of commerce. For Turnery, the boxwood used by the cabinet-makers and turners in France is chiefly that of the root. The town of St. Claude, near which is one of the largest natural box woods in Europe, is almost entirely inhabited by turners, who make snuff-boxes, rosary beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and numerous other articles. The wood of some roots is more beautifully marbled, or veined, than that of others; and the articles manufactured vary in price accordingly. The wood of the trunk is rarely found of sufficient size for blocks in France; and when it is, it is so dear, that the entire trunk of a tree is seldom sold at once, but a few feet are disposed of at a time, which are cut off the living tree as they are wanted. There are in the Forest of Ligny, generally, many stumps which have been treated in this manner. Boxes, &c., formed of the trunk, are easily distinguished from those made of the root, by the wood of the trunk always displaying a beautiful and very regular star, which is never the case with that of the root. Boxwood is very apt to split in drying; and, to prevent this, the French turners put the wood designed for their finest works into a dark cellar as soon as it is cut, where they keep it from three to five years, according to circumstances. At the expiration of the given time, they strike off the sap-wood with a hatchet, and place the heart-wood again in the cellar till it is wanted for the lathe. For the most delicate articles, the wood is soaked for 24 hours in fresh very clear water, and then boiled for some time. When taken out of the boiling water, it is wiped perfectly dry, and buried, till wanted for use, in sand or bran, so as to be completely excluded from the light, and air. Articles made of wood thus prepared, resemble, in appearance, what is called Tunbridge ware. The spray of the box, though it burns very slowly, is much esteemed in France, as fuel for lime-kilns, brick-kilns, ovens, &c., where a great and lasting heat is required. (Nouv. Cours., &c.) Wood Engraving. The wood used for this purpose is chiefly imported from Turkey or Odessa; and sells, in London, for from 77. to 147. a ton, duty included; the average annual consumption in Britain being about 582 tons. In the year 1832, M'Culloch tells us (in his Dictionary of Commerce), the duty on imported boxwood was 18677. 17s. 4d. In France, the native trees are seldom of sufficient size for wood engraving; and wood to the amount of 10,000 francs is annually imported from Spain. The box trees which were cut down on Box Hill in 1815 produced upwards of 10,000/ The art of cutting on wood was invented before the art of printing; and it is supposed to have been first practised between the years 1400 and 1430. The first objects to which it was applied were very different in their character; viz. books of devotion and playing cards. The mere outlines of the figures were rudely cut in the wood with knives in the direction of the grain, and the |