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Box Tree. A shrubby evergreen tree, twelve or fifteen feet high, order Euphorbiaceae, a native of England, southern Europe, and parts of Asia, with small oval and opposite leaves, and greenish, inconspicuous flowers, male and female on the same tree. It was formerly so common in England as to have given its name to several places - Boxhill, in Surrey, for instance, and Boxley, in Kent. The wood is of a yellowish color, close grained, very hard and heavy, and admits of a beautiful polish. On these accounts it is much used by turners, wood carvers, engravers on wood (no wood surpassing it in this respect), and mathematical-instrument makers. Flutes and other wind instruments are formed of it. The box of commerce comes mostly from the regions adjoining the Black sea and Caspian, and from Spain and Portugal. Boxwood is also obtained from Minorca, but it is of inferior quality. In gardens and shrubberies box trees may often be seen clipped into various formal shapes. There is also a dwarf variety reared as an edging for garden walks and the like.

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