2i8 Transactions of the [Sess. 



VI.— ON YEWS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 

 FORTINGALL YEW. 



By Mr JOHN LINDSAY. 



{Bead Jan. 29, 1885.) 



The Yew tribe (Taxinea?) has been relegated by systematic botan- 

 ists to a sub-order of the Conifera?. The Common Yew [Taxus 

 haccata) belongs to the Dioecia Monadelphia of the Linnfean system. 

 The leaves are in two rows, dark shining-green above, much paler 

 below ; branches dense and spreading ; branchlets slender and 

 drooping ; male catkin axillary ; female cone inconspicuous, con- 

 sisting of a few minute scales, with a terminal, erect ovule on a 

 fleshy disc, which enlarges into a scarlet fleshy cup containing a 

 single brown oval seed. The " solitary Yew" is a tree familiar to 

 all, and is found distributed throughout Europe, growing at various 

 elevations up to 4000 feet. The stem is short and straight ; the 

 head pointed or pyramidal-shaped until the tree begins to decay, 

 when it presents a rounded appearance. The leaves, as is well 

 known, are poisonous to cattle browsing on them ; and several 

 cases are also on record of children having died from their effects, 

 when administered as a vermifuge. It is said, however, that if 

 cattle are accustomed to the use of the leaves, by a small quantity 

 being mixed in their food, they can by-and-by partake of them 

 alone with impunity. The seed contained in the scarlet disc is 

 also reputed to possess poisonous properties ; but the cup itself is 

 sweet and innocuous, children being very fond of plucking and 

 eating this bright-red berry. No insect subsists on any part of the 

 Yew except the fleshy cup, the sweetness of which attracts Wasps 

 and like visitants. The wood of the Yew is not subject to insect 

 depredations, and is very hard, flexible, and of great durability. It 

 is a common saying, in some parts of England, that a Yew post will 

 outlast an iron one ; and the wood has been found in bogs in Ire- 

 land, where it may have lain for centuries, yet remaining as fresh 

 and sound as when growing in full vigour. It is a very fine-grained 

 wood, as many as 280 annual rings, according to Loudon, being 

 sometimes found in a piece not more than twenty inches in diameter. 

 As will be noticed presently, it was at one time in much request 

 for bows ; and by a statute of King Henry VIII. it was enacted 

 that " bowyers " should import the wood for the purpose of making 

 the best bows, owing to the difficulty of procuring it at home in 

 sufficient lengths or quantities for that purpose. The Yew does 

 not grow very rapidly, but what it lacks in this respect is amply 

 compensated for by the great age which in many cases it attains. 



