Scientific Name:
Buxus sempervirens
Pronunciation:
BUCKS-us sem-PUR-vur-enz
Common Name:
common boxwood
Family Name:
Buxaceae
Plant Type:
Broadleaf evergreen, Flowering cut plant
Key ID Features:
New growth stems felty; leaves opposite, most blades ovate to elliptic, 1-4cm long x 0.6-1.5cm wide, apex notched, margins entire, dark green smmoth waxy surface, undersides yellowish-green, strong 'burnt hair' odour when crushed; flowers tiny and often over-looked, pale yellow to cream, in axillary clusters, April-May. Winter ID: leaves turn bronze in cold weather.
Habit:
Dense, Upright
Form:
Round
Texture:
Medium - fine
Mature Height:
2 - 3m
Mature Spread:
2 - 3m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
Europe
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 6: (-23 to -18 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun only if soil kept moist, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade, Deep shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Alkaline, Well-drained
Water Use:
Moderate
Landscape Uses:
Floristry, Group or mass planting, Hedge row, Rock garden, Sheared hedge, Topiary
Additional Info:
Google. Cultivars shown or on campus images may include
B. 'Fastigiata' (upright),
B. 'Graham Blandy' (columnar),
B. ‘Suffruticosa' (dwarf), and
B. ‘Variegata',Compare to common hybrid cultivars (B. sempervirens x B. sinca var. insularis or x B. microphylla): B. ‘Green Velvet', B. ‘Green Gem', B. ‘Green Mountain', and B. 'Glencoe' (Chicagoland Green®).
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Opposite
Texture/Venation:
Leathery, Pinnate venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous, Lustrous
Colour in Summer:
Dark-green
Colour in Fall:
Dark-green
Shapes:
Elliptic, Ovate
Apices:
Emarginate or retuse, Obtuse, Rounded
Bases:
Attenuate
Margins:
Entire
Additional Info:
1.5–3cm x 0.5–1.3cm
Inflorescence Type:
Flowers solitary
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Corolla Shape:
Rotate/stellate
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
Mar, Apr
Additional Info:
One per leaf axil with many stamens; insect (bee) pollinated
Fruit Type:
Capsule
Fruit Colour:
Green, Brown (seeds black)
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
Additional Info:
Not showy, 3 carpels with 2 seeds in each
Bark Morphology:
Lightly fissured, Multi-stem trunk
Bark or Stem Colour:
Olive, Brown
Organ Modifications:
Fibrous-like roots
Propagation:
Softwood cuttings, Grafting
Maintenance:
Medium
Other:
shear yearly
Pest Susceptibility:
Dieback, Leaf miner insect, Whitefly or psyllids (Disease resistant, Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant, Drought tolerant)
Specific Pests:
Course(s):
- AARB 1012
- HORT 1155
- Level 1 Apprenticeship
Location(s):
- (BCW) Boulevard (Circular) Westend : motel's hedge
- (BHW) Boulevard by Hwy. 10 Westend
- (GAZ) GAZebo
- (GAZE) GAZebo East
- (HPZ) Horticulture PlaZa : + cv. Variegata
- (SGL) Sendell Gardens, Langley
- (WDH) Wark-Dumais House : 180