1. Plin., HN 16.212; Ulrich 2007, 245 ff. That boxwood was the preferred wood species for combs is most evident from the classical literature in which the term ‘buxus’ was used as a metaphorical synonym for a comb, e.g. Ov., Fast. 6.229; Juv. 14.194; Mart. 14.25. In this article, abbreviated references to classical authors follow those in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3^rd edition, Oxford 1996.