Holly, Yew and Box 



is, and I quote from the MS. in possession of 

 Lord Kinnaird : ' Above one hundred years ago, 

 Mr Willis, farmer, of Aghenteroark, in the parish 

 of Killesher, county of Fermanagh, found upon 

 his farm on the mountains above Florence 

 Court, two plants of this tree. These he dug up, 

 and planted one in his own garden. He took 

 the other down to his landlord at Mount Florence, 

 where it was planted. The tree that was planted 

 in his own garden, remained there till the year 

 1865, when it died. The other is still alive at 

 Florence Court, and is the one from which the 

 millions of plants now distributed in all parts 

 have sprung. The first cuttings were given by 

 my father, the Earl of Enniskillen, to Messrs 

 Lee and Kennedy, then the largest nurserymen 

 about London.' Signed, Enniskellen, Rossie 

 Priory, September 8, 1867." Some people re- 

 commend that this plant should be made a 

 distinct species, but from most people's experi- 

 ence it cannot be relied on to come true from 

 seeds. Mr Mackay, in Flora Hibernica, p. 260, 

 says that the finest specimens of this variety 

 grow at Comber, near Antrim, County Down, 

 and that they are supposed to have been planted 

 about 1780. A figure of the original Irish Yew 

 at Florence Court is given in VeitcKs Conifer 

 Manual, ed. i., /. joj. 



T. b. fastigiata argentea is so called by 

 reason of the silver variegation of some of the 



200 



