112 



CEPHALOTAXUS DRUPACEA. 



form low evergreen trees or shrubs of Yew-like aspect. The generic 

 characters may be thus formulated : 



Flowers dioecious, in axillary heads. Staminate flowers, suhsessile <>i 

 shortly pedunculate, the peduncle sheathed by imbricating scales, tin- 

 capituhmi consisting of four six stamens, each enclosed by a broad 

 scale-bract. Anthers three-lobed, pendulous from the apex of the 

 stamhial leaf. 



< h'uliferous flowers pedunculate, composed of scale-like imbricated bracts 

 that become more or less fleshy at the base and form a cup-shaped 

 cavity which bears two three ovules. 



Fruit drupe-like, ovoid or sub-globose ; testa succulent with a leathery 

 skin enclosing an almond-shaped seed with a hard ligneous shell. 

 The hardy Cephalotaxi are referable to three fairly distinct species 

 connected by intermediate forms that have resulted from hybridity. 

 They should be planted in shade, their foliage then retains its deep 

 lustrous green as well as its persistency ; when fully exposed to 

 the sun the leaves often become discoloured and unhealthy and 

 soon fall off. Besides being shaded they should be sheltered from 

 cold winds, and the soil in which they are planted should be moist 

 but sufficiently drained. Under these conditions alone do they 

 appear to thrive in Great Britain. 



The generic name Cephalotaxus is derived from KttyaXi] (head) and raoc 

 (the Yew), in allusion to the form of the flowers and the Yew-like 

 aspect of the species. 



Cephalotaxus drupacea. 



A low shrub or bushy tree varying in height from 2 20 or more 

 feet, according to the situation in which it is growing. In British 

 gardens a low spreading bush rarely exceeding 5 feet high. Hark of 

 branches reddish brown marked by narrow, longitudinal out-growths 

 decurrent from the bases of the leaves, the herbaceous shoots yellowish 

 green with the out-growths more prominent. Branchlets distichous 

 and mostly opposite ; buds very small, with thick, ovate keeled peruke. 

 Leaves pseudo-distichous, shortly petiolate, linear, mucronate, scarcely 

 tapering towards the apex, slightly recurved, 0'5 1*25 inch long, grass- 

 green with a median keel above, much paler beneath with darker lines 

 at the margins and midrib. Stamiimte flowers, shortly stalked, about 

 0'2 inch in diameter, usually in pairs along the underside of shoots 

 of the preceding year and close to tlie axils of the leaves. Fruit 

 ellipsoid, contracted at the basal end, 1*5 inch Jong and O75 inch in 

 diameter at the broadest part ; chestnut-brown where mature. 



Cephalotaxus drupacea, Sie bold and Zuccaiini, Fl. Jap. II. 66, t. 130, 131. (1S42 . 

 Endlicher, Synops. Conif. 239. Carriere, Traite Conif. ed. II. 720. Parlatoiv. 

 D. C. Prodr. XVI. 504. Gordon, Pinet, ed. II. 67. Beissner, Nadelholzk, 183. 

 Masters in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. 499; Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 113; 

 and in Journ. R. Hort. Soc. XIV. 201. 



dntpmrn is widely distributed over the mountains of 

 Japan from southern Hondo to central Yeso, with a vertical range 

 of from 1,000 to .>,000 or more feet, in places forming a part of 



