2 28 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



30 feet 4 inches in circumference at 3 feet from the 

 ground ; has a stunted, hollow trunk, with a lateral 

 opening, and will hold five or six persons.' 



' It has in the centre a still more remarkable 

 inner trunk, covered with bark, quite detached and 

 distinct from the old trunk below, but united to it 

 above by a great branch running into, or more 

 probably proceeding from it. ' ^ 



This inner trunk is, no doubt, like that in the 

 Portbury and Binder trees, the result of a root sent 

 down from the crown through the decayed wood 

 in the centre. 



The Rev. W. A. W. Evans, writes to me in 

 April 1895: 'Height, 45 feet; spread, 40 feet; 

 girth at ground, 31 feet; do. at 3 feet, 32 feet; 

 length of bole to first bough, 5 feet. The trunk is 

 covered with young spray.' 



Owine to the central roots takino- on the stem 

 function, it is obvious that in examples like this, 

 the rate of increase cannot be justly estimated. 

 But even here, in spite of the formation of a new 

 central trunk, the increase in seventy-three years at 



3 feet from the ground amounts to 7 inches of 

 diameter. 



Lorton Yew. — This is described in the poem 

 Yew Trees. 'It is greatly reduced in size and 

 majesty since Wordsworth wrote his poem,' says 

 Professor Knight, ' and it is now very much of a 



1 Strutt, Sylva Brit., 1822. 



