300 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



{Taxus baccata). This tree is planted in our coun- 

 try, but with indifferent success ; it rarely amounts 

 to anything north of Philadelphia. The evergreen 

 leaves are sharp pointed, curved, flat, and they grow 

 in ranks of two. In general effect the tree has dark- 

 green, somber, but beautiful foliage. A remarkably 

 symmetrical conelike variety of this species is called 

 the Irish yew {Taxus baccata, var. fastigiata). There 

 is a charmingly compact and beautifully formed tree 

 of this variety at Dosoris, the home of Mr. Richard 

 Starr Dana, on Long Island ; but Mr. William Fal- 

 coner says that the Irish yew does not thrive in this 

 country — a pity, I think, because there are few trees 

 which offer so great an inducement and promise to 

 the gardener in search of a conventionally modeled 



tree. 



The only yew native to this country is a mere 

 shrub with straggling branches which spread widely 

 over the ground ; it is called Taxus Canadensis 

 {Taxus Minor, Sarg.), and improperly ground hem- 

 lock. So superficial a resemblance to the true hem- 

 lock should not mislead one ; the distinguishing char- 

 acteristic of the ground hemlock a sharp observer 

 would not fail to detect, Look at my drawing 

 marked A; the needle at the end abruptly finishes 

 in a sharp point This is not the case with the needle 

 of the true hemlock. I must also draw attention to 



