Family: Buxaceae

Buxus microphylla (Japanese box, littleleaf boxwood) is an evergreen shrub native to Taiwan and Japan. This species is an ornamental, used particularly for topiaries and hedges. Some varieties can be trained into bonsais. The plant is very tolerant of pruning, but slow growing. The wood is hard and can be used in engraving. This plant has not been documented as naturalized in any Hawaiian Islands to date.

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate suitability
  
• Reported to be a casual escape in New Zealand
  
• Unverified reports of weediness elsewhere
  
• Unpalatable to animals
  
• Toxic to animals and people if ingested
  
• Reported to be highly flammable
  
• Tolerates full shade (but does best in full sun to partial shade)
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reproduces by seeds and cuttings
  
• Seeds dispersed by dehiscent capsules, possibly aided by wind or water and intentionally cultivated by people
  
• Tolerates and resprouts after repeated pruning and cutting

Low Risk Traits:

• A primarily temperate species, unlikely to thrive in tropical climate zones of the Hawaiian Islands
  
• No reports of negative impacts outside native range
  
• No reports of naturalization in the Hawaiian Islands
  
• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Not reported to spread vegetatively
  
• Slow growth rate