2068

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

propagated by layers; and there are plants of it at Messrs. Loddiges’s.It appears to be nothing more than a stunted variety of the commonyew, and to be identical with the T. canadensis of Willdenow, andthe T. b. minor of the elder Michaux; but, as we have only seensmall plants of it and of T. canadensis, we have thought it worthwhile to keep the latter separate for the present.

* T. b. 4 erecta, the upright yew, is a seedling from T. b. fastigiata, in

which the leaves are 2-ranked as in the common yew, but thebranches take an upright direction as in the Irish yew. There is aplant in the Horticultural Society’s Garden.

* T. b. 5 foliis variegatis Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves variegated

with whitish yellow. It is seldom found higher than a large shrub.It is propagated by layers or cuttings, either of the ripened woodput in in autumn, or of the newly formed wood put in in July, andtreated like the cuttings of Cape heaths.

* T. b. 6 fructo luteo. This variety appears to have been first discovered

by Mr. Whitlaw of Dublin, about 1817, or before, growing on thedemesne of the Bishop of Kildare, near Glasnevin; but it appearsto have been neglected till 1833, when Miss Blackwood discovereda tree of it in Clontarf churchyard, near Dublin. Mr. Mackay,on looking for this tree in 1837, found no tree in the churchyard,but several in the grounds of Clontarf Castle; and one, a large one,with its branches overhanging the churchyard wall, from which hesent us specimens. The tree does not differ, either in its shapeor foliage, from the common yew; but, when covered with itsberries, it forms a very beautiful object, especially when contrastedwith yew trees covered with berries of the usual coral colour.

Other Varieties may be selected from beds of seedlings; and it appearsthat a kind with shorter and broader leaves than usual was formerly pro-pagated in the nurseries. The yew tree, in some situations, is found withspreading branches, not unlike those of a very old spruce fir, and having thespray drooping; but whether this is a true variety, or only a variation, is un-certain. A portrait of a tree of this description, now growing in the gardenof J. F. M. Dovaston, Esq., at West Felton, near Shrewsbury, will befound in a future page. If the appearance of Mr. Dovaston’s tree, whichis monoecious, be permanent, it well deserves propagation, both on accountof its pendulous shoots, and because it is monoecious. Ortega states thatthe yew, which grows wild in different parts of Arragon, flowers in May,June, and July, and ripens its fruit in November; from which it wouldappear to be a different variety from that of central and northern Europe ;because the difference of time between the flowering of the common yewin Paris and Stockholm does not exceed a month. Gleditsch thinks theremay be two species; one indigenous to the south of Europe, and the otherto the north; founding his opinion upon the circumstance of some plantsbeing much more tender than others. This is the case even in France,where, according to Du Hamel, many yews were destroyed by the severefrost of 1709; and, according to Malesherbes, many died in his plantationsin the winter of 1789. In every case where plants are raised from seed,there will be different degrees of hardiness, as well as variations in otherrespects; and hence, in a severe season, all the tenderer varieties of anindigenous species may be killed, while all the hardy ones stand uninjured.Description, Sfc. The yew tree rises from the ground with a short butstraight trunk, which, at the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft., sends out numerous spread-ing branches, forming a dense head, usually, when full grown, from 30 ft. to40 ft. in height; and always characterised, till the tree attains a great age, bythe tuftings and sky outline being pointed or peaked; though, after the treehas begun to decay, these become rounded or stag-headed. The trunk andbranches are channeled longitudinally, and are generally rough, from the pro-truding remains of shoots which have decayed and dropped off. The bark is