IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 323 



under regular cultivation to obtain the medicinal extract from 

 its roots. It is also considered wholesome to grazing-animals. 

 The young leaves furnish a medicinal salad. It is also an im- 

 portant honey plant and early in the season. 



Tarchonanthus camphoratus, Linne. 



South Africa. This bush deserves attention, being of medi- 

 cinal value. As an odorous garden plant it is also very accept- 

 able. 



Taxodium distichum, Richard.* 



Virginian Swamp or Bald Cypress. In swampy places of 

 Eastern North America, extending from 38 to at least 

 17 north latitude. Thought to attain occasionally an age 

 of 2,000 years. A large and valuable tree, 100 feet high, 

 with a stem circumference of sometimes 40 feet ; of rapid 

 growth, with deciduous foliage, like that of the Larch 

 and Ginkgo. It is found fossil in the miocene formation of 

 many parts of Europe. The wood is fine-grained, hard, strong, 

 elastic and durable, splits well, and thus much used for 

 shingles, rails, and planks ; it is almost indestructible in water. 

 The tree requires a rich soil, a well-sheltered site, with much 

 moisture and good drainage (Lawson). It yields an essential 

 oil and a superior kind of turpentine. Useful for avenues on 

 swampy margins of lakes or river banks. Porcher says, " This 

 tree, lifting its giant form above the others, gives a striking 

 feature to many of the swamps of Carolina and Georgia ; they 

 seem like watch-towers for the feathered race." 



Taxodium mucronatum, Teno. 



The famed Montezuma Cypress of Mexico, 120 feet high, with 

 a trunk 44 feet in circumference ; it forms extensive forests 

 between Chapultepec and Tescuco. 



Taxus baccata, Linne. 



Yew. Middle and South Europe and Asia, at 1,000 to 10,000 

 feet elevation. Generally a shrub, sometimes a tree 100 

 feet high, which furnishes a yellow or brown wood, exceed- 

 ingly tough, elastic and durable, and much esteemed by 

 turners ; one of the best of all woods for bows. Simmonds 

 observed that " a post of Yew will outlast a post of iron." 

 Much esteemed for pumps, piles, water-pipes, as more lasting 

 than any other wood ; also for particular musical instruments, 

 the strongest axletrees, etc. (Simmonds). The tree is of very 

 slow growth, and attains a great age, perhaps several thousand 

 vears ; some ancient ones are known with a stem of 50 feet 



