The Yew 



tributed, plants which must have originated as 

 wild examples being met with in many different 

 places, whilst ample evidence is at hand to prove 

 that it formed at least a portion of the woods 

 and forests of pre-historic times. In the Wood 

 Museum at Kew pieces of Yew wood are pre- 

 served which were dug up from submerged 

 forests in places so widely separated as York- 

 shire and Somersetshire. The Yorkshire example 

 was taken from beneath a bed of clay six feet in 

 thickness on Hatfield Chase, near Thome, and 

 the Somersetshire specimen from a submarine 

 forest near Stogursey. It is the patriarch of 

 European trees, and in point of longevity holds 

 its own with the giant Sequoias of California and 

 Eucalyptuses of Australia. The oldest examples 

 in Britain are usually found in the vicinity of 

 churches, and numerous specimens exist whose 

 ages are known to exceed one thousand years, 

 whilst it is believed that the age of some almost 

 doubles that number. 



Although under cultivation, the Yew thrives in 

 both full sun and dense shade, at sea level and at 

 a medium elevation ; it is usually found in a state 

 of nature in positions where it escapes the full 

 power of the sun's rays, such as undergrowth 

 amongst taller trees and the northern sides of 

 hills and mountains. Its partiality to elevated 

 ground, where it obtains some protection from 

 scorching sun, is brought prominently into notice 



