2068 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



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 common 

 yew, and to be identical with the T. canadensis of Willdenow, and 

 the T. b. minor of the elder Michaux; but, as we have only seen 

 small plants of it and of T. canadensis, we have thought it worth 

 while to keep the latter separate for the present. 

 * T. b. i erectciy the upright yew, is a seedling from T- b. fastigiata, in 

 which the leaves are 2-ranked as in the common yew, but the 

 branches take an upright direction as in the Irish yew. There is a 

 plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden. 

 nt T. b. 5 Joins variegdtis 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 wood 

 put in in autumn, or of the newly formed wood put in in July, and 

 treated like the cuttings of Cape heaths. 

 ■ T. b. 6 fructo liiteo. This variety appears to have been first discovered 

 by Mr. Whitlaw of Dublin, about 1817, or before, growing on the 

 demesne of the Bishop of Kildare, near Glasnevin ; but it appears 

 to have been neglected till 1833, when Miss Blackwood discovered 

 a 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 he 

 sent us specimens. The tree does not differ, either in its shape 

 or foliage, from the common yew ; but, when covered with its 

 berries, it forms a very beautiful object, especially when contrasted 

 with yew trees covered with berries of the usual coral colour. 

 Other Varieties may be selected from beds of seedlings; and it appears 

 fhat a kind with shorter and broader leaves than usual was formerly pro- 

 pagated in the nurseries. The yew tree, in some situations, is found with 

 spreading branches, not unlike those of a very old spruce fir, and having the 

 spray 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 garden 

 of J. F. M. Dovaston, Esq., at West Felton, near Shrewsbury, will be 

 found in a future page. If the ap[)carance of Mr. Dovaston's tree, which 

 is monoecioiLs, be permanent, it well deserves propagation, both on account 

 of its pendulous shoots, and because it is monoecious. Ortega states that 

 the 3 ew, which grows wild in different parts of Arragon, flowers in May, 

 June, and July, and ripens its fruit in November; from which it would 

 appear to be a different variety from that of central and northern Europe ; 

 because the difference of time between the flowering of the common yew 

 in Paris and Stockholm docs not exceed a month. Gleditsch thinks there 

 may be two species; one indigenous to the south of Europe, and the other 

 to the north ; founding his opinion upon the circumstance of some plants 

 being much more tender than others. This is the case even in France, 

 where, according to Du Hamel, many yews were destroyed by the severe 

 frost of 1709 ; and, according to Malesherbes, many died in his plantations 

 in 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 other 

 respects; and hence, in a severe season, all the tenderer varieties of an 

 indigenous species may be killed, while all the hardy ones stand uninjured. 

 Desa-iptiov, Sfc. The yew tree rises from the ground with a short but 

 straight tri.nk, 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. to 

 40 ft. in height; and always characterised, till the tree attains a great age, by 

 the tuftuigs and sky outline being pointed or peaked ; though, after the tree 

 has begun to decay, these become rounded or stag-headed. The trunk and 

 branches are chamieied longitudinally, and are generally rough, from the pro- 

 truding remains of shoots which have decayed and dropped off'. The bark is 



