Box trees

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Box trees
Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), illustration

Common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens ), illustration

Systematics
Subdivision : Seed plants (Spermatophytina)
Class : Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
Eudicotyledons
Order : Boxwood (Buxales)
Family : Box trees (Buxaceae)
Genre : Box trees
Scientific name
Buxus
L.

The box trees ( Buxus ) are a genus of plants in the box tree family (Buxaceae). The 70 to 100 species are distributed across the northern hemisphere in Eurasia , Africa and the New World .

description

Trunks with bark and wood of the common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens )
Inflorescence with male and female flowers of the common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens )
Branch with open capsule fruits and in the three fruit compartments the shiny black seeds of the common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens )

Vegetative characteristics

Buxus species are evergreen, small, mostly well-branched shrubs and trees . All parts of the plant above ground are bare. The opposite leaves are simple.

Generative characteristics

Boxwood species are single-sexed ( monoecious ). The flowers are usually in compact, spike-like inflorescences . The flowers are usually two to four-fold. The sepals and petals are more or less the same, so it looks like there is only one bract circle. There are four or six (rarely ten) stamens per male flower . For each female flower three are carpels to ovary grown with two ovules per ovary chamber. There are three styles per female flower.

They form capsule fruits with three compartments, each with two "horns". The seeds are glossy black.

Balearic boxwood ( Buxus balearica )
Buxus bodinieri
Colchian boxwood ( Buxus colchica )
Common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens ), flowering branch
Buxus sinica
Buxus wallichiana

Systematics and distribution

The genus Buxus was established by Carl von Linné . Synonyms for Buxus L. are: Buxella Tiegh. , Crantzia Sw. , Noto luxury olive. , Tricera Schreb. , Macropodandra Gilg . Type species is Buxus sempervirens L.

The genus Buxus is distributed with 70 to 100 species in Europe , Asia , Africa and America . Most of the species come from the tropics. There are 17 species in China, 15 of them only there. In Europe only two species can be found, the common boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens ) and the Balearic boxwood ( Buxus balearica ); both species have probably been cultivated and then occasionally feral.

There are 70 to 100 types of Buxus (selection with distribution):

Europe, northwestern Africa and Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa, and Madagascar
Neotropic

Almost all of the Cuban species are very rare and critically endangered (some species have fewer than ten plant specimens left in their natural habitat).

The variegated variety Buxus sempervirens 'Argenteovariegata'
Cut boxwood as a border in Alden Biesen, Belgium

use

Because of its hardness, wood from Buxus sempervirens was already being used by Neanderthals to make grave sticks 171,000 years ago .

There are a number of varieties (selection):

  • Buxus sempervirens : 'Agram', 'Angustifolia', 'Argentia', 'Aurea Pendula', 'Aureovariegata', 'Blauer Heinz', 'Blue Belle' JB USA, 'Bowle's Blue', 'Dee Runk', 'Elegantissima', 'Green Gem', 'Green Mound', 'Green Mountain', 'Green Peace', 'Green Velvet', 'Handsworthiensis' green form,' Handsworthiensis' blue form, 'Herman von Shrenk', 'Ickworth Giant', intermedia ' Rosemoor ',' Inverewe ',' Ipeck ',' Jim's Spreader ',' Kensington Gardens ',' Langley Beauty ',' Latifolia Pendula ',' Latifolia Maculata ',' Marginata ',' Memorial ',' Molesworth ',' Morris Dwarf ',' Myosotidifolia ',' Myrtifolia ',' Newport Blue ',' Obelisk form ',' Parasol ',' Pendula ',' Prostrata ',' Pyramidalis', 'Rosmarinifolia', 'Rotundifolia', 'Salicifolia Elata', 'Tall Boy', 'Twisty', 'Varder Valley' 'Waterfall', 'Winter Gem', 'Wisley Blue', 'Yakushima form'
  • Buxus harlandii : 'Richard'
  • Buxus microphylla : 'Curly Locks', 'Faulkner', 'Grace Hendrick Phillips', 'Green Pillow', 'Helen Whiting', 'Hilliers form', 'John Baldwin', 'Tall growing form'
  • Buxus microphylla var. Japonica 'Compacta', 'Green Jade', 'Morris Dwarf', 'Morris Midget', 'National'
  • Buxus sinica var. Insularis ' Filigree 'Chegu', 'Justin Brouwers',' Pincushion ',' Tide Hill ',' Winter Beauty '

swell

  • I. Friis: Buxaceae. , In: Flora Zambesiaca , Volume 9, Part 3, 2006: Buxus - Online. (English)
  • Tianlu Min, Paul Brückner: Buxaceae. : Buxus , p. 321 - the same text online as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Ed.): Flora of China. Volume 11: Oxalidaceae through Aceraceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2008, ISBN 978-1-930723-73-3 . (Sections Description and Distribution)
  • Buxus at Tropicos.org. In: Flora of Pakistan . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  • Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Buxus at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed on August 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Walter Erhardt , Erich Götz, Nils Bödeker, Siegmund Seybold: The great zander. Encyclopedia of Plant Names. Volume 2. Types and varieties. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7 .
  3. ↑ Biancamaria Aranguren et al .: Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy). In: PNAS . Online advance publication of February 5, 2018, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1716068115
    Could these be the oldest Neandertal tools made with fire? On: sciencemag.org of February 5, 2018.
  4. ↑ Langley Boxwood Nursery Ltd. - Information and price lists.

Web links

Commons : Buxus  - collection of images, videos and audio files