20C6

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

FART 111.

Genus I.

IHJ A

TA'XUS L. The Yew. Lin. Syst. Dioe'cia Monadelphia.

Identification. Lin. Gen., 532 .3 Juss, 412.; FI. Br., 1086.; Tourn., t. 362. ; Lam., t. 829.; Gaertn.

t 81.; N. Du Ham., 1. p. 61 .3 Rich. Mem. Conif., p. 131. t. 2.

Derivation. From toxon, a bow j being formerly much used in making them: or from taxis , ar-rangement ; from the leaves being arranged on the branches like the teeth of a comb : or fromtoxicum, poison ; though Pliny says that poison (toxicum) was so named from this tree, which wasconsidered poisonous. The derivation of the term Yew is supposed to be from the Celtic word iiu,sometimes pronounced if, and signifying verdure ; alluding to the yew being an evergreen ; andthis will also explain the French name, if.

Description, SfC. Evergreen low trees, with numerous, mostly linear, andentire leaves ; natives of Europe and North America.

I 1. T. bacca'ta L The berried, or common, Yew

Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1472.; Willd. Sp., 4. p. 856.; FI. Br., 1086. ; Eng. Bot., t. 746.; Hook.Scot., 290.': Lightf., 626.; FI. Dan., 1.1240.; Bull. Fr., 1.136. j Dicks. H. Sicc. Fasc., 16. 6 .; Ehrh.Arb., 50. ; N. Du Ham., 1. p. 62 .5 Eng. FL, 4. p. 252. 3 Hook. Br. FI., p. 434. j Mackay FI. Hibern.p.259.; Lindl. Synops., p. 241.

Synonymes. Taxus, No. 1663., Hall. Hist., 2. p.322., Raii Syn., 445., Gcr. Dm., 1370., Sauk.Hist., 1. p 241., Matth. Vaigr., 2. p. 444, Cam. Epit., 840.; If, Fr. ", Ifenbaum, Ihenbaum, orEihenbaum, Gcr. ; Taxo, Ital. ; Texo Span.

The Sexes. The yew being almost always raised from seed, the male and female plants may be sup-posed to be nearly equally distributed, both in natural woods and in artificial plantations. Ac-cording toMiller and Lamarck, both sexes are sometimes found on the same tree ; and the fact willbe found confirmed in a future page. As far as we have been able to observe, says White of Sel-borne, the male tree becomes much larger than the female one. (Nat. Hist, of Selb., cd. 1789.)Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 746.; FI. Dan., t. 1240.; Bull. Fr., 1.136. ; Ger. Emac., 1370. f.; Bauh.Hist, 1. p. 241. f.; Matth. Vaigr., 2. p. 444. f. ; Cam. Epit., p. 840. f. ; N. Du Ham., 1. 1.19 .3Blackw., t. 572. 3 Du Ham. Arb., 2. t. 86 .: Oelhaf. Abbild., t. 23, 24.; Oairtn. Fruct, t. 91. f. 6 ;and the plates of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., i fe. Leaves 2-ranked, crowded, linear, flat. Eeceptaele of thebarren flowers globular. {Smith Eng. Ft.) A tree, indigenous to mostparts of Europe; flowering in March and April, and ripening its fruit inSeptember.

Varieties.

T. b. 2 fastigiata; T. fastigiata Lindl. ; T. hibernica Hook., Lodd. Cat.,ed. 1836 ; our fig. 1981. of the natural size, and the plate of this treein our last Volume. The upright, orFlorence Court, Yew ; the Irish Yew.

—This is a very distinct variety, readilydistinguished from the species by itsupright mode of growth, and deepgreen leaves, which are not in rankslike those of the common yew, butscattered, as shown in fig. 1981. Allthe plants of this variety in cultivationare of the female sex; and the fruitis oblong, and not roundish, as in thecommon variety. The finest speci-mens, Mr. Mackay informs us {FI.

Hibern., p. 260.), grow at Comber, inthe county of Down, and near thetown of Antrim; where they are sup-posed to have been planted before1780. This variety was first observedat Florence Court, near which, on themountains of Fermanagh, our corre-spondent Mr. Young informs us, theoriginal tree still exists in a healthy andvigorous state. Fig. 1982., to a scaleof 1 in. to 12 ft., is a portrait of one ofthe trees at Comber, which grows in

1981