English translation (part 3) of Zheng M and Min T, Buxaceae, (1980) in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae: Tomus 45(1). Beijing: Science Press

Abstract

In the January 1991 issue of 'The Boxwood Bulletin', the ABS presented Part I of a reproduction of an important addition to the taxonomic literature on 'Buxus', entitled 'Flora: Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae'. Part II appeared in the April issue. The following pages present the third and final installment. The 'Buxus' species of East Asia and the neotropical, Central American species have long been in need of review and examination. The publication documents the work of M. Cheng, who in 1980 published a flora of the East Asian 'Buxus' species and varieties. It contains taxonomic descriptions of many species and varieties of boxwood found in China, and was translated from the Chinese by two British-born women, Isabel Tasker and Robyn Carter. They have constructed an accurate Chinese-to-English translation which has allowed the English-speaking community to review this major Asian 'Buxus' flora. The work has resulted in documenting new varieties and reclassification of other species and varieties. To laymen, reclassifications result in the most confusion. The binomial change of Korean boxwood from 'B. microphylla' var. 'insularis' to 'B. sinica' var. 'insularis' is particularly significant because it is a well-known temperate species.