63 
TAXACEX. SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
the genus is represented by a shrub! of the northern Atlantic region, by a small shrubby tree of 
western Florida, by a tree of the Pacific region, and by a little known species endemic in Mexico.” The 
genus 1s an ancient one, its fossil remains attesting the fact that Yew-trees have existed since miocene 
times.® 
Taxus produces wood valued in the arts. The leaves and seeds contain taxine, an alkaloid to 
which actively poisonous properties are ascribed,‘ and the bark is rich in tannin. Several of the 
species have long been planted for the adornment of parks and gardens. 
In North America Taxus is not injured by insects, and has no serious fungal enemies.° 
The different species can be propagated by seeds, and the varieties and abnormal forms multiplied 
by cuttings. 
The generic name, from Tos, is the classical name for the Yew-tree. 
Taxus baccata, Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 275 (not Linnzus) (1784). 
Taxus baccata cuspidata, Carriére, Traité Conif. ed. 2, 733 
(1867). — Beissner. Handb. Nadelh. 173. 
Taxus cuspidata inhabits Manchuria, Corea, and the island of 
Yezo, where, although not common, it is widely scattered through 
the forests of deciduous-leaved trees, often rising to a height of 
fifty feet, and forming a tall straight trunk frequently two feet in 
diameter. The wood, which resembles that of Taxus baccata, is 
used by the Ainos for their bows, and is also employed in cabinet- 
making and for the interior decoration of expensive houses. (See 
Sargent, Forest Fl. Jap. 76.) 
Taxus cuspidata is often used to decorate Japanese gardens, 
where it is frequently cut into fantastic shapes. It was introduced 
into the gardens of the eastern United States in 1862 through the 
agency of the Parsons’ nursery at Flushing, New York, and is per- 
fectly hardy as far north at least as eastern Massachusetts, grow- 
ing in cultivation more rapidly than other Yew-trees, and promising 
to become a valuable decorative plant in the northern states. A 
dwarf form of this species with a more compact and upright habit 
and shorter leaves, of Japanese origin, and now common in Ameri- 
can gardens, is evidently 1. seminal variety, and probably, in part 
at least, the Taxus tardiva of Parlatore (De Candolle Prodr. xvi. pt. 
ii. 502 [1868]). 
1 Taxus Canadensis, Marshall, Arbust. Am. 151 (1785). — Will- 
denow, Spec. iv. pt. ii. 856. — Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. ii. 647. — Bige- 
low, Fl. Boston. ed. 3, 399. — Emerson, Trees Mass. 111 ; ed. 2, i. 
127. — Darlington, Fl. Cestr. ed. 3, 296. — Parlatore, J. c. 501. — 
Watson & Coulter, Gray’s Man. ed. 6, 494. 
Taxus baccata, 8 minor, Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Am. ii. 245 (1803). 
Taxus baccata, p, Hooker, Fl. Bor.-im. ii. 167 (in part) 
(1839). 
Taxus baccata, var. Canadensis, Gray, Man. ed. 2,425 (1856). — 
Macoun, Cat. Can. Pl. 463. 
Taxus minor, Britton, Mem. Torrey Bot. Club, v. 19 (1893). 
Taxus Canadensis is a shrub with prostrate wide-spreading 
branches and a stem occasionally one or two feet in height ; it is a 
common inhabitant of northern woods, often forming under their 
dense shade in low rich soil broad masses or sometimes nearly im- 
penetrable thickets, and is distributed from Newfoundland to the 
northern shores of Lake Superior and to those of Lake Winnipeg, 
and southward through the northern states to New Jersey and 
Minnesota. 
2 Taxus globosa, Schlechtendal, Linnea, xii. 496 (1838). — End- 
licher, Syn. Conif. 244. — Lindley & Gordon, Jour. Hort. Soc. Lond. 
v. 227. —Carriére, 1. c. 524. — Parlatore, 1. c.— Hemsley, Bot. 
Biol. Am. Cent. iii. 185. 
This south-Mexican species, which is described as a small tree, 
has not been seen by any of the botanists who have lately visited 
Mexico, and is very imperfectly known. 
3 Saporta, Origine Paléontologique des Arbres, 59. — Zittel, Handb. 
Paleontolog. ii. 256. 
* No cases of poisoning by Taxus in North America appear to be 
recorded, and in India domestic animals are said to browse upon 
Taxus baccata without experiencing any bad effects (Brandis, For- 
est Fl. Brit. Ind. 541). On the other hand, Taxus has been credited 
in Europe with toxic properties since the time of the Greeks, and 
numerous instances are cited of fatal results following the medi- 
cinal use of the leaves, and of the death of animals fed upon them. 
Other cases, however, are reported of animals, gradually accus- 
tomed to a diet of Yew, being nourished on the branches without 
bad effects. 
most people, and is not poisonous, although often believed to be so, 
The sweet pulpy covering of the seed is palatable to 
and flour made from the seeds is used to fatten poultry. (See 
Loudon, Arb. Brit. iv. 2089.— Marméd, Liebig’s Annalen, exxv. 
71. — Redwood, Pharm. Jour. Trans. ser. 3, vii. 36.— Amato & 
Capparelli, Gazzetta di Chimica, x. 349.— Johnson, Jan. Med. Bot. 
N. Am. 262. —Cornevin, Plantes Vénéneuses, 43. — Pharmacogra- 
phia Indica, vi. 373. — Hilger & Brande, Berichte der deutsch. Chem. 
Gesell. xxiii. 464. — U. S. Dispens. ed. 16, 1933.) 
5 Leptospheria taxicola, Saccardo, and Diplodea Tazi, De Notaris, 
two minute fungi, have been noticed on Taxus Canadensis. 
CONSPECTUS OF THE ARBORESCENT SPECIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Leaves short, yellow-green . : 
Leaves elongated, usually falcate, dark green . 
1. T. BREVIFOLIA. 
oe ee ee le le le el eCe:COUD TS. FDORIDANA. 
