Garden Notes - Box to Horse Chestnut

Box
Buxus sempervirens

Frequently cultivated in parks and gardens; wild in Surry, Kent, Bucks, and Gloucestershire. When full grown in the open reaches a height of 15-20 feet, with a girth of 20 inches. Of very slow growth, consequently the wood is very fine grained. It is also very hard, and heavier than that of any other British tree. Bark: rough, grayish. Leaves: evergreen, oblong, glossy, leathery, about 1 in. long, with strong and distinctive odor. Flowers: in small clusters; buds appear in October, opening in January-April following, pale greenish-yellow. Fruit: beaked capsule, the size of a large pea, containing black seeds.

Bruyere ("Blair"), or Tree Heath
Erica arbora

Grows in some parts of Devonshire; common in Italy, Southern France, and other Mediterranean countries, where it forms spreading bushes or small trees 10 or 12 feet high. These bushes are pruned to encourage root formation, and from the stout woody root-stocks, which sometimes grow to the thickness of a man's body, are cut the beautifully figured "briar-root" pipes so popular with smokers. The Bruyere does not burn readily, and takes a high polish. "Briar" is merely the Anglicised form of the French "Bryuere," and has, of course, no connection with our British Briar-Rose.

Alder Buckthorn, or Berry-bearing Alder
Rhamnus Frangula

Usually a shrub or small tree in waste places and woods; rarely exceeding 10 ft. in height. Stem and older branches dull grayish brown; younger branches pale green tinged with red, turning to dull purple in autumn. Leaves: egg-shaped, with narrow end attached to stalk, similar in shape to those of the Alder (hence the name Alder Buckthorn); unusually smooth and soft, edge wavy. Flowers: small white, hanging in clusters from leaf axils. Fruit: berries, about ½ in. in diameter, greenish-yellow, turning to crimson and black when ripe.

Cedar of Lebanon
Cedrus Libani

Introduced into Britain in the 17th century. Varies in height and outline according to situation; well-grown trees usually 50 to 80 ft. and occasionally over 100 ft. high. Branches: tend to grow horizontally. Bark: brownish-gray scaly. Leaves: needle-shaped, in tufts, dark-green, evergreen; massed into terrace like areas of foliage. Stamen-bearing flowers in yellowish-green spikes, conspicuous among the dark green needles. Fruit: arranged in erect purple-brown cones, 3 in. to 4 ½ in. long, which require 2-3 years to mature. Fruit-scales thin and closely pressed together; when ripe shed from the top downwards, leaving a bare spike.

Horse Chestnut
Esculus Hippocastanum

Introduced into Britain about 1550; the noblest of our flowering trees, reaching a height of 80-100 feet. Its stately grandeur makes it a valuable ornament in parks and avenues. Bark: fairly smooth but scaly. Leaf-buds in pairs, protected by a sticky varnish. Leaves: almost circular, about 18 in. across, broken up into about seven leaflets, radiating from a common centre. Flowers arranged in pyramidal clusters about 7 in. long; five white petals splashed with pink and yellow, seven curved stamens. Fruit: a prickly green hall about 2 in. in diameter, which splits when ripe and allows the reddish-brown Chestnuts to fall to the ground.