T. baccata 



and some are useful for avenues. As a hedge 

 plant the Yew is almost as popular as the Holly, 

 and many exceptionally fine hedges are to be 

 found composed entirely of " Common Yew." 

 For naturally damp and heavy ground it is more 

 appropriate than Holly, whilst it has an advan- 

 tage over that plant on account of its fine growth 

 and small leaves. When at its best it forms a 

 very dense, and practically an impenetrable 

 hedge, and rarely requires more than an annual 

 clipping to keep it in good order. Owing to the 

 extreme age the Yew attains, when once a 

 hedge is thoroughly established there is little 

 fear of its having to be replaced. 



The bark of the Yew is sometimes used for 

 tea in India, according to specimens and descrip- 

 tions exhibited in the Kew Museums. This is 

 suggestive of the poisonous qualities found in 

 the leaves being absent from the bark after it 

 has been dried, or found only in such quantities 

 as to cause no serious harm. Medicinally, the 

 tree seems to have been of no value, though 

 Canon Ellacombe, in Plant Lore of Shakespeare, 

 records an instance of the fruit being used in 

 conjunction with various other things in the 

 preparation of a certain Anglo-Saxon medicine. 

 The recipe for this medicine is well worth 

 recording, and is as follows, with Canon Ella- 

 combe's introduction : " There is no doubt that 

 the Yew berries are almost if not quite harm- 



173 



