Appearance

Growth form

A dense, mounded broadleaf evergreen. Wild Chinese boxwood is a shrub of roughly 3–18 ft (1–5.5 m), but the Korean boxwood (var. insularis) sold in the US usually stays low, around 2 ft (60 cm) tall and a bit wider.

Leaves

Opposite, glossy leaves with smooth, slightly rolled edges. On Korean boxwood they are small, about ½–¾ in (1–2 cm) long; other forms of the species can have leaves up to about 1½ in (3.5 cm). Leaves often turn yellowish or bronze-brown in winter.

Look-alikes

Images coming soon

Japanese hollyIlex crenata

Japanese holly leaves are alternate (one per node) with small rounded teeth, and it bears black berries. Boxwood leaves are opposite (in pairs) with smooth edges.

Why they get mixed up · Both are small-leaved evergreens used for low clipped hedges.

Images coming soon

Common boxwoodBuxus sempervirens

A closely related boxwood; clipped plants are hard to tell apart from photos alone.

Why they get mixed up · Both are the standard hedging boxwoods in US gardens.

Japanese boxwoodBuxus microphylla

A very close relative; clipped plants are hard to tell apart from photos, so the nursery tag is often the only sure guide.

Why they get mixed up · Korean boxwood was long sold as a variety of this species (B. microphylla var. koreana).

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• Hedges and foundation plantings
• Gardens and parks

Range

Native to central and southern China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. In the US it is a garden plant, not a native or naturalized shrub.

Preferred conditions

In the wild it grows in many kinds of habitat, mostly at about 2,000–8,500 ft (600–2,600 m).

Growing it

Care

Korean boxwood is rated for USDA zones 4 or 5 through 9. It takes sun or part shade, tolerates heavy shearing, and is resistant to deer. Its roots are shallow, so mulch lightly rather than digging around it.

Name and classification

About the name

Also called Chinese box or small-leaved box. Korean boxwood is often sold as Buxus microphylla var. koreana or B. koreana; in current classification it is B. sinica var. insularis.

Varieties and forms

Cold-hardy cultivars from Korean boxwood, such as 'Wintergreen' and 'Winter Gem', are the ones most often sold in northern US gardens.

Conservation

IUCN Red List

LCLeast Concern·Low risk of extinction

Threats

The box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), an East Asian pest whose caterpillars strip boxwood leaves, was found breeding in western New York in 2021 and has since turned up in Michigan, Ohio, and Massachusetts.