Boxwood - Boxwood

It is an evergreen shrub of the family Ilex (APG classification: Ilex family) that can reach a height of 3 meters. The bark is gray-brown. The leaves are thick and hard, usually 1.5-3 cm long, with low sawtooth. The flowers bloom in June-July and are white. Dioecious. The drupes are spherical and ripen purple-black. It is distributed from Honshu to Kyushu and further to Jeju Island. There are many variations, and the variety Haiinutsuge, whose trunk is creeping on the ground, is distributed on the Japan Sea side of Honshu, Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin, the variety Tsukushiinutsuge, whose leaves are thin and large with long pedicels, the Oobainutsuge, which is distributed from southern Kanto to Shikoku and Kyushu, and the variety Shimainutsuge (Mucchagara), whose leaves have clear ridges on the branches and prominent sawtooth, is distributed in southern Kyushu, Okinawa, and Taiwan. It is the most commonly cultivated garden tree. The name comes from its resemblance to boxwood, but boxwood has opposite leaves, whereas boxwood has alternate leaves, so they are clearly different. I. rugosa Fr.Schm. resembles boxwood in that its trunk creeps along the ground, but it is a different species that can be distinguished by its red fruits that ripen and its indented leaf veins, and it grows in the subarctic coniferous forests from Hokkaido to the Chubu region of Honshu, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin.

[Yuichi Kadota November 17, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

モチノキ科（APG分類：モチノキ科）の常緑低木で、高さ3メートルに達する。樹皮は灰褐色。葉は厚くて硬く、普通長さ1.5～3センチメートル、低い鋸歯(きょし)がある。花は6～7月に開き、白色。雌雄異株。核果は球形、紫黒色に熟す。本州から九州、さらに済州島に分布する。変異に富み、本州の日本海側、北海道、千島、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）には幹が地表をはう変種ハイイヌツゲが、九州の南部には葉が薄くて大きく果柄の長い変種ツクシイヌツゲが、関東南部から四国、九州にはオオバイヌツゲが、九州の南部、沖縄、台湾には枝に明瞭(めいりょう)な稜(りょう)があって葉の鋸歯が目だつ変種シマイヌツゲ（ムッチャガラ）がそれぞれ分布する。庭木としてもっとも普通に栽植される。名は全体の感じがツゲに似るためであるが、ツゲは葉が対生、イヌツゲは互生で、明らかに異なる。ツルツゲI. rugosa Fr.Schm.は幹が地表をはう点でハイイヌツゲに似るが、果実が赤く熟し、葉脈がへこむ点で区別される別種で、北海道から本州中部地方、千島、樺太の亜寒帯針葉樹林に生える。

［門田裕一　2021年11月17日］

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