Buxus microphylla
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Buxus microphylla' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Buxus microphylla var. japonica (Müll.Arg.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson
Infraspecifics
Editorial Note
The text below derives from Bean, heavily adapted to reflect the updated nomenclature, though it is clear that the East Asian species of Buxus are much in need of taxonomic revision.
A dwarf shrub to about 3 ft high; stems square, glabrous. Leaves rather thin and membranous, 1⁄2 to 4⁄5 in. long, 1⁄6 to 1⁄3 in. wide, narrowly elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate, rounded or notched at the apex, tapered or cuneate at the base. Flowers as in B. sempervirens, but with the rudimentary ovary of the staminate flowers much larger than in that species (as long as the inner sepals). An inhabitant of Japanese gardens; whether it is also found wild in its typical state is a matter on which Japanese botanists are not agreed. It is a pleasing little box, which resembles some of the small forms of B. sempervirens, but its stems and leaves are quite glabrous.
Now restricted to Japan, Buxus microphylla was formerly conceived as a widely distributed temperate East Asian species encompassing the loosely geographical varieties japonica, koreana and sinica – also the more recently (1993) described Taiwanese var. tarokoensis. The Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese populations are now recognised within Buxus sinica.
Two varieties are currently accepted, var. microphylla and var. riparia. Var. japonica (Müll.Arg.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson (= Buxus japonica Müll.Arg.), was formerly recognised, now reduced to synonymy with the species. Bean describes it as a loose-habited shrub 3 to 6 ft high (more in the wild state); young stems glabrous, winged. Leaves 1⁄3 to 1 in. long, roundish obovate or inversely heart-shaped, sometimes as broad as long, tapered at the base, rounded or notched at the apex, smooth except for a slight down on the stalk when young. It also flowers more freely than any other species. Perhaps the least ornamental of boxes. It has an ungainly habit, and has not the healthy, vigorous aspect one associates with the genus.
var. riparia (Makino) Makino
Synonyms
Buxus sempervirens var. riparia Makino
Native of Japan, found on rocks by rivers in the mountains. Stems slender, often procumbent, leaves less than 1 in. long.