While most folks from Zone 7 and north are quite familiar the English, Japanese, and European boxwoods of the genus, Buxus, gardeners in hotter climates had to turn to a substitue plant with similar traits for their climate. That plant is Myrsine africana, a woody member of the Primula family, which gained the common name, African boxwood. Native from Africa, New Zealand, and Southern China, this plant is virtually unknown here in Zone 7b/8a, problably because all of the references we’ve seen claim it’s not winter hardy north of Zone 9. So far, our five year old plant, from a 2017 Mark Weathington collection in Gansu, China, has thrived, reaching 3′ tall x 3′ wide in that period.
In African culture, the foliage is used in soups to help reduce cholesterol. On the outside of the body, the same leaves are used as a hair dye. Because Aftrican boxwood is diocious, you’ll need a male and female plant, for it to produce the small purple fruit. Because the foliage is quite tiny, it responds very well to shearing, it you’re one of those gardeners with S&M tendancies.
