y;/.r*.] < "NIFRH/K. 413 



7. TAXUS, Tourhef. 



Heartwood distinct. Wood hard, n early homogeneous, with a 

 narrow band of firm autumn wood and softer Spring wood. 



1. T. baccata, Linn. ; Brandis 539 ; Gamble 83. T. nucifera, Wall. 

 T. IFallichiana, Zucc. The Yew. Vern. Sardp, badar, Alg. ; Birmi, 

 Ijimiia, barini, tuny, thunu, sungal, p'dslul, choyu, chatung, Kashmir, 

 C ham ba ; Ra k/ial, JBeas ; Barmi, Shall; T/ituia, Hattu ; Yitnnlal, riknliug, 

 Kunawar ; Thuner, geli, ga/lv, titst, N.-W. P. ; . N/iare, Tibet ; Puiig-cha, 

 sungcha, Ladak ; Tcheiray (tnlak, Nej>. ; Tingtchi, tsathing, Bhutia ; 

 Cheongbu, Lepcha; Dingsableh, Khasia. 



A large evergreen tree. Bark purplish-grey, thin, fibrous, peeling off 

 in longitudinal Hakes. Sapwood white, beartwood red or orange-red, 

 hard, close-grained, smooth, works and polishes well. Annual rings 

 wavy, marked by a narrow belt, of firm and dark-coloured wood. Medul- 

 lary rays fine and extremely fine, very numerous. No vertical resinous 

 ducts. 



Himalaya, from the Indus to Bhutan, generally between 6,OCK> and 10,000 feet, 

 and in the Khasia Hills. Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, Japan, and North 

 America. 



The tree sometimes reaches a very large size. Madden records a tree at Gangntri 

 100 feet high and 15 feet in girth ; 5 to 6 feet in girth 1S however, the usual size in 

 the North- West Himalaya, though trees 8 to 9 feet have been found in Hazara. 

 The writer measured two trees on Tonglo in Sikkim, which gave 



No. 1. Height 30 feet . . to first branch 10 feet . . girth 20 feet. 

 No. 2. 70 . . 30 . . 16 



and there are many in the same locality of similar dimensions. The growth is slow, 

 our specimens shewing the following : 



H 56 ... 12 rings. | H 161 . . .18 rings. 



H 116 , . . 12 

 H 422 ... 13 

 H 895 13 



H 18 ... 19 

 H 921 . . .20 

 H 773 44 



E 796 ... 14 E 382 . . 55 



Brandis says. 20 to 32 rings per inch of radius. 



Weight, according to Brandis, 46 to 59 Ibs. per cubic foot ; Mathieu PI., For., 

 p. 445, gives 42 to 55 Ibs., the average of our specimens gives 44 Ibs. The wood is 

 used for bows, carrying poles and native furniture, and deserves to be better known 

 and more extensively used, as it is very strong and elastic, and works and polishes 

 beautifully. In some parts of the Himalaya and the Khasia Hills it is held in great 

 veneration and called Deodar (God's tree) ; the wood is burnt as incense, the branches 

 are carried in religious processions in Kumaun, and in Nepal the twigs are used to 

 decorate houses at religious festivals. The bark is used in Kunawar as a substitute 

 for, or mixed with, tea ; the berries are eaten and the leaves are exported to the 

 plains and used as a medicine. In Europe they are considered poisonous, but are 

 not always so, as goats, rabbits and sheep eat them with impunity. 



The young plant requires shelter and thrives in deep shade; it consequently will 

 not reproduce where the forest has been cleared. It flowers in spring ; the young 

 leaves appear almost immediately after, and the fruit ripens in autumn. 



Ibs. 



H 161. Hazara, 8,000 feet 41 



H 921. 43 



H 895. Murree, 40 



H 116. Jagatru, Kulu. 8,000 feet 41 



H 773. Chanota, Kavi, 7,500 ........ 43 



H tt. Matiyana, Simla, 9,000 feet 46 



H A6. Hattu, Simla, 9,500 feet 50 



H 2S(55. 47 



H 422. Mohna Block, Deoban, 8.000 feet 43 



E 3S2. Tonglo, Darjeeling, 9,000 feet 46 



