Buxus sempervirens

The box is usually a branching evergreen shrub, which if left to grow takes on the shape of a tree that can grow up to 5 m and occasionally 8 m tall. The young bark is yellowish and corky, but in adult specimens it is greyish and broken up into small platelets. The leaves are simple, opposite, leathery, and persistent. Their margin is entire and sometimes notched at the apex. Adult leaves are hairless, although young specimens are hairy at the base, as well as on the leaf stalks and twigs. They are oval to elliptical, and tend to be curved rather than flat, i.e. with the leaf blade twisted towards the underside. They are bright green and shiny on the upper side, while the underside is pale green or yellowish. In autumn they can become a characteristic orange colour due to the cold, or turn yellow in prolonged drought. They measure 1.3-2.5 cm long by 0.7-1.2 cm wide with a leaf stalk of up to 2.5 cm in length. The male and female flowers come out on the same plant, but are separated on the twigs. They are whitish, although the male flowers are stained yellow by the pollen. The fruits are capsules up to 7 mm long that display three characteristic small horns when they are still closed. They bloom at the end of winter or beginning of spring and the fruit ripen in the summer.