October 1986 the Boxwood Bulletin a QUARTERLY DEVOTED to MAN's OLDEST GARDEN ORNAMENTAL
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October 1986 The Boxwood Bulletin A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO MAN'S OLDEST GARDEN ORNAMENTAL Photo: Courtesy Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Lower terrace of the garden at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace, Staunton, Virginia. The boxwood parterre is divided into bowknot and crescent beds. This photo was taken just after the brick walkways were installed around 1960. (See Page 28.) Boyce, Va. Vol. 26, No. 2 Edited under the Direction of THE AMERICAN BOXWOOD SOCIETY The Boxwood President ........ Mrs. Robert L. Frackelton 1st Vice President ...... Mr. Lynn R. Batdorf Bulletin 2nd Vice President ... Mrs. Malcolm Holekamp October 1986 Vol. 26, No.2 Secretary ............ Mrs. Phillip D. Larson Executive Treasurer. Mrs. Katherine D. Ward Editor - Scot Butler Co-Editor - Joan Butler DIRECTORS INDEX Buxaceae and the Taxonomy of the Boxwoods Term Term (Buxus) _.. _............. _................. __ .. 25 Began Ends The Boxwood Garden of the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace. _...... _......... _............... 28 Notes on Two Talks at the Woodlawn Prof. Albert S. Beecher .. 1985 1988 Workshop. _................................ 31 Prof. James A. Faiszt ... 1984 1987 Gift to ABS Library. __ ...................... _.. 33 Dr. Walter S. Flory ..... 1986 1989 New Index to The Boxwood Bulletin is Now Mr. William A. Gray .... 1984 1987 Available __ ...... __ .... _... _..... __ ..... _... 33 Cdr. Phillip D. Larson ... 1985 1988 Boxwood Society of the Midwest Names Plant for Mary Gamble .. _..... __ ................. _.34 Mr. Richard D. Mahone .. 1986 1989 New Boxwood Cultivar Registered ....... _...... __ 34 Mr. William N. Mays .... 1984 1987 "Meet Me in St. Louis" for the 1987 ABS Mrs. James M. Sykes ... 1985 1988 Annual Meeting and Tour ................. _.... 36 Some "Different" Buxus Cultivars at the Registrar: Mr. Lynn R. Batdorf Morris Arboretum. _................... _...... 38 1409 Elm Grove Circle Boxwood Blockmaking .................... _.... 39 Blandy: New Developments Down on the Farm ..... 43 Silver Spring, MD 20904 Correspondence .......... _...... __ ........... _46 Boxwood on Maryland's Eastern Shore .... _..... _.48 ILLUSTRATIONS Boxwood parterre at Woodrow Wilson Birth- place ......................................... Cover The Editor solicits and will welcome contributions of articles; news; Peter Goldblatt and B.s. 'Inglis' at Missouri notes; photographs, suitable for reproduction, of boxwood specimens, Botanical Garden .................................. 27 gardens, and plantings; and other items of probable interest to readers. It is requested that every item of such material carry the 1965 view of Woodrow Wilson Birthplace garden name and return address of the sender and be accompanied by an ad and house ........................................ 30 dressed envelope carrying the proper postage for return. While every Woodrow Wilson Birthplace garden and house effort will be made for the protection of all materials submitted for after restoration of 1979-82 .......................... 31 publication, the Editor cannot assume responsibility for loss or injury. B. s. 'Mary Gamble' photographed at Missouri Botanical Garden .................................. 34 Sprig of B. s. 'Mary Gamble' showing lanceolate leaves ........................................... 35 St. Louis, Missouri-the central place (map) .............. 37 (ISSN 0006 8535 is published Herbarium specimen of M-355, B. m: var. japonica, The Boxwood Bulletin at Morris Arboretum ............................... 38 quarterly for $8.00 per year by The American Box Leaf reversion on B. m. var. japonica 'Medium wood Society, Blandy Experimental Farm, Boyce, Dwarf' hedge ..................................... 38 VA 22620. B. m. var.japonica 'Very Dwarf' on its rock throne ........ 39 Second Class postage paid at Boyce, VA. Bleeding Heart Yard, London ......................... 40 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Round of boxwood showing split. _.................... .41 The The youngest Lawrence holds around of boxwood Boxwood Bulletin, P. O. Box 85, Boyce, VA 22620. and an assembled block ............................. 41 An example of the block engraver's art .................. 42 Thomas Printing And Publishing Company, Inc. North entrance to The Quarters at B1andy Boyce, VA 22620 Experimental Farm ................................ 43 Graham F. Blandy .................................. .45 Coniferous trees in the White Arboretum at Blandy Farm ..................................... 45 Boxwood in Tilghman Family cemetery ................. 48 BUXACEAE AND THE TAXONOMY OF THE BOXWOODS (BUXUS) Peter Goldblatt Introduction eastern Asia where at least 26 wild species oc cur in China, Japan, and south and west to the Buxaceae, the plant family to which the box Himalayas and the East Indies. To the west, wood genus Buxus belongs, is a small one as some 5-6 species occur from. Iran to the plant families go, and consists of only five Mediterranean basin and Central Europe. Two genera, distributed almost throughout the species occur in northeast Africa; in world, but absent from Australasia. The Madagascar, a third, which is very poorly genera are Buxus (some 60 species in Europe, known, should probably be transferred to Asia, north and northeast Africa and the Notobux'U,s. Another center of distribution is Caribbean including Mexico and Central the West Indies where some 33 species of America); Notobuxus (8 species in tropical and Buxus are found. Of these, 27 species occur in southern Africa); Sarcococca (about 20 species Cuba, with a fewer number on other West I n in the Himalayas, China and Indomalesia); dian islands. Four species occur in Mexico, two Styloceras (3 species in west tropical South in Panama and one in northern Venezuela and America); and Pachysandra (4 species in Colombia. The New World species of Buxw; southeastern U. S. and east Asia). Until a few are rather poorly known and there are none in years ago botanists admitted a sixth genus to cultivation. the Buxaceae, the southwestern U. S. and Mexican Simmondsia, the plant from which jo joba oil is obtained. Critical studies have now shown that Simmondsia should be regarded as The Cultivated Boxwoods a separate family, Simmondsiaceae, which is closely related to Euphorbiaceae, the spurge 1. The European Species family. Of the five genera of Buxaceae, Buxus, Very few species of boxwood are in general Pachysandra, and Sarcococca (sweet box) are cultivation, and by far the most important is in cultivation. Buxus is by far the most impor Buxus sempervirens L. This species ranges tant of these three and is dealt with below. from central and southern Europe to North Pachysandra is a useful evergreen ground Africa with its eastern limit in Turkey. Buxus cover; the only species extensively grown is P. sempervirens was in the past regarded as ex terminalis Sieb. & Zucc., a native of Japan. tending into the Caucasus and Iran, but some The native North American Pachysand?·a, P. recent treatments regard the boxwoods of this procumbens Michx. (Allegheny spurge) is occa area as B. colchica Pojark. and B. hyrcana Po sionally grown in the Midwest and Northeast, jark. (Pojarkova 1949; Rechinger 1966). and is an attractive ground cover for shady Botanical authorities do not always agree, and situations. Some six cultivated species of sweet in the very thorough Flora of Turkey (Davis box were mentioned by Lewis Palmer in this 1982) .both B. colchica and B. hyrcana are in journal some years ago (Palmer 1965). None cluded in B. sempervirens, which then extends are extensively grown in North America but the native range of the species into the moun Sarcococca hookeriana Baill. and S. ruscifolia tains of Iran. Stapf are found in Southern and Pacific Coast Buxus sempervirens was the first boxwood gardens. to be grown for ornamental purposes and was Buxus is the largest genus in Buxaceae, pro probably one of the first ornamentals grown in bably comprising some 60 species, although the Europe. It is a very variable species both in the more commonly quoted figure is 70 species wild and, of course, in cultivation, and many (Airy Shaw 1973). One center of distribution is cultivated varieties (cultivars) have been nam- 25 ed (Dallimore 1908, provides a good summary). Korean boxwoods. Cultivars of this variety are Linnaeus, who described B.' sempervirens, well-known for their great hardiness and have recognized both arborescent and dwarf forms increased the area where boxwoods can be (var. arborescens and var. suffruticosa). grown by a considerable extent (Rehder 1966). Although horticultural manuals usually cite The plants are very slow growing and thus several named varieties under B. semper- seldom achieve appreciable size. A good review virens, Dallimore listing as many as 21, the of Korean boxwood in its native land by tendency today in scientific treatments is not Richard Lighty was published in this journal to give infraspecific recognition to variants some 20 years ago (Lighty 1967). There are and cultivars. In the modern and authoritative now several named cultivars of Korean box Flora Europaea, Webb (1968) does not even wood; for nomenclatural purposes they should mention the variation found in this species. best be identified as, for example, Buxus sinica However, the older botanists did formally var. insularis 'Wintergreen', etc. recognize several varieties and the great Following Cheng's treatment of the French botanist Henri Baillon, who cultivated Far Eastern boxwoods as two monographed Buxaceae in the mid nineteenth separate species,