Boxwood | Buxus

Boxwoods are woody landscape shrubs grown for their many diverse forms. The shrubs are thickly broad-leaved and ideal for use as a topiary, specimans, and hedges or mass planting to frame -- herb gardens, a perennial border, or a garden maze.  Buxus can be found in several soils and ecological conditions. The PD Larson book about boxwood history and cultivation states the genus originates in Africa, Eurasia, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Parkwood Estate, Toronto, Canada

On a visit, in Canada, we learned of the development of the 'Green Gem' boxwood. Boxwood (Buxus) is a favorite shrub for a formal garden style and offers a wide design template to Landscape Architects. The cold weather in Toronto provided an obstacle for the landscape designers quiver of plants to use and several individuals looked for boxwoods with winter hardiness.
A landscape nursery, Sheridan Nursery, was owned by Howard Burlingham Dunington-Grubb and Lorrie Alfreda Dunington-Grubb. They crossbred various boxwoods to provide a hardy boxwood for the Toronto, Canada climate. 'Green Gem' boxwood was developed at the Sheridan Nursery and tolerates the cold temperatures of zone 4. The Dunington-Grubbs sometimes shared projects with the renowned British, Edwardian landscape architect, Thomas H. Mawson. 

Since boxwood is a highly cultivated shrub; due to it's small leaves, adaptability, and use for hedges and topiary, many hybrids are difficult to tie to an original species or country. I have placed several varieties available currently in the commercial trade with the caveat that the science in identifying boxwood is dynamic.  

Table 1: Boxwood
		TAXON				ORIGIN
Order	Family	Common Name	Taxon Full Name	Intraspecific Epithet	Cultivar	Country of Origin	Cultivated Origin
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Antzam’ Antarctica
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Bailey’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Garrisoni’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Glencoe’ Chicagoland Green
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Goddard College’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Green Ice’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Green Mound’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Green Mountain’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Green Velvet’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Sanders Dwarf’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Willowwood’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		‘Wilson’
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		Balearica
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		Bodinieri
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		Conroe' '
Buxales	Buxaceae	Boxwood	B x		North Star'
Buxales	Buxaceae	Harland's boxwood	B. harlandii		‘Richard’	southern China
Buxales	Buxaceae	Harland's boxwood	B. harlandii		Harlandii	southern China
Buxales	Buxaceae	Henry's Boxwood	B. henryi		Henryi	China
Buxales	Buxaceae	Cape box	B. macowanii			South Africa
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Belvedere’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Kingsville boxwood (Little leaf or Japanese boxwood)	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Compacta’ also Henry Hohman's'Kingsville Dwarf' (bonsai), Kingsville, MD nursery	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. koreana	‘Escles’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Faulkner’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Golden Dream’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Golden Triumph’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Grace Hendrick Phillips’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Grebor’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Green Beauty’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Green Jade’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Green Pillow’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Green Prince’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Gregem’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Helen Whiting’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Jim Stauffer’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘John Baldwin’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Julia Jane’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Kingsville Dwarf’ also 'Compacta'	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Morris Dwarf’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Morris Midget’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Northern Emerald’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		‘Rococco’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Sunnyside’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Trompenburg’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. japonica	‘Winter Gem’ (see B. sinicus var.insularis)	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)		Bert Chandler’	Korea, China	Japan and Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Little leaf or Japanese boxwood	B. microphylla (Japanese cultivated plants of an unknown origin)	var. tarokoensis	sinica' (see B. sinica)	Korea, China	Taiwan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Agram’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Alyce’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Anderson’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Angustifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Appalachian Pyramid’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Arabeske’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Arborescens’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Argentea’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Argenteo-variegata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Asheville’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Bentley Blue’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Blauer Heinz’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Broman’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Bullata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Clembrook’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘David’s Gold’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Dee Runk’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Denmark’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Edgar Anderson’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Elegantissima’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Elizabeth H. Inglis’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Fastigiata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Fiesta’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Fleur de Lys’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Glauca’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Graham Blandy’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Grand Rapids’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Green Pillow’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Green Tower’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Haller’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Handsworthiensis’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Handsworthii’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Harry Logan’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Henry Shaw’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Hermann von Schrenk’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Herrenhausen’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Hollandia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Jack Randolph’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Jensen’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Joe Gable’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Lace’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Langley Beauty’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Latifolia Macrophylla’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Latifolia Maculata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Latifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Lawson’s Golden’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Liberty’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Marginata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Maryland’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Memorial’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Meyers’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Mount Bruno’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Myosotidifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Nela Park’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Nish’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Notata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Ohio’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Paramus’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Parasol’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pendula’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pioneer’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Ponteyi’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pride of Rochester’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Prostrata’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pullman’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pyamidalis’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Pyramidalis Hardwickensis’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Rosmarinifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Rotundifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Rungeana’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Ruth Randolph’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Salicifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Schmidt’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Sentinelle’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Shandy Hall’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Silver Beauty’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Suffruticosa’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Truetree’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Undulifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Valentine’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Vardar Valley'	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Verdant Hills’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Waterfall’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		‘Welleri’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens	var. insularis	‘Wintergreen’ (B. sinica)	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	American boxwood	B. sempervirens		Arborescens'	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		Myrtifolia’	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Common or European boxwood	B. sempervirens		Sempervirens	western and southern Europe
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Filigree’ or ‘Franklin’s Gem’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Franklin’s Gem’ or ‘Filigree’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Green Gem’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Justin Brouwers’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Nana’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Pincushion’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Staygreen’ aka ‘Sunburst'	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Sunburst' or ‘Staygreen’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Tall Boy’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Tide Hill’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘We Willie’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Winter Beauty’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Winter Gem’ (see B. microphylla var. japonica)	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica	var. insularis	‘Wintergreen’	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Korean littleaf boxwood (syn. Chinese boxwood)	B. sinica		Sinica	China, Korea, Japan
Buxales	Buxaceae	Himalayan box	B. wallichiana		Wallichiana	Himalaya

Collections of boxwood can be found at the following

University of Virginia Blandy Experiment Station in Boyce, Virginia.
       The boxwood story at Blandy

National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, NC
Royal Horticulture Society
Middleton Place in Charleston, SC (visited by André Michaux in 1786)

Societies________________________________

The American Boxwood Society, Virginia
European Boxwood and Topiary Society

Growers_________________________________________

Saunders Brothers


Additional Resources:

Boxwood the Illustrated Encyclopedia, 2004 by Lynn R. Batdorf

Boxwood Handbook: A Practical Guide to Knowing and Growing Boxwood by Lynn R. Batdorf

Boxwood: Its History, Cultivation, Propagation and Descriptions,1999 by P. D. Larson

• USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Research Article

Grassroots Horticulture

2019

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