CYC'AD FAMILY. 485 



15. TAXUS, YEW. (Classical name, from the Greek for a &o?(? ; the 

 ti)at,'h wdod was chosen for bows.) Flowers early spring. 



T. baccata, Linn. Elkopkan Y'kw. Low tree, with thick, upright 

 trunk, spreading, short branches, and pointed, dark-green leaves about 1' 

 long ; when planted in this country forms only a shrub. Var. kastigiXta, 

 Irish Yew. A singular form, making a narrow column, the branches 

 appressed ; the leaves sliorter, broader, and scarcely in two ranks. 



T. tard)i^a, Laws. (T. adpukssa). Low tree or shrub, with no dis- 

 tinct leader, and therefore making a flat top ; leaves short, ovate-oblong, 

 and very dark-green, 2-rowed ; berries pale-pink. iSaid to have come from 

 Japan, but probably only a form of T. baccata. 



T. cuspidata, Sieb. & Zucc. Small tree or hardy bush, with the habit of 

 T. baccata, but looser ; leaves broader and abruptly pointed, leathery in 

 texture and lighter-colored, 2-ranked on the branchlets, but scattered on 

 the older growth. Japan. 



T. Canadensis, Willd. American Y., Ground Hemlock. A strag- 

 gling bush on shady banks and hills, N. J., to Minn, and N. ; widely spread- 

 ing on the ground ; leaves green and linear, short ; berries light-red. 



16. TORREYA. {Dr. John Torrey, a distinguished American botan- 

 ist.) Flowers in spring. 



T. taxif6lia, Arn. Woods in Fla. ; a handsome tree, but with the 

 wood and foliage ill-scented ; leaves like those of Yew, but longer and 

 tapering to a sharp point ; hardy as a shrub as far north as N. Y. 



17. GINKGO, GINKGO TREE. (Japanese name.) 



G. bi/oba, Linn. (Salisburia ai)iantif6lia). Maidenhair Tree. 

 A most singular tree, planted from China and Japan, hardy N. ; branches 

 spreading ; the fan-shaped, maidenhair-like, alternate leaves with their 

 slender stalks 3' or 4' long ; fruit a drupe an inch or more long, with a 

 stone like that of the plum, the meat edible. Dioecious or monoecious. 



18. PODOCi-RPUS. (Greek: stalked fruit.) 



P. Chinens/s, Wall. A very erect shrub, like the Irish Y'ew not fully 

 hardy N. ; leaves linear-lanceolate, 2'-3' long; fruit ovoid. China. 



P. Nagela, H. Br. Handsome, erect tree with slender and sometimes 

 pendulous branches ; leaves broadly ovate, attenuated at the point and 

 slightly glaucous ; fruit globose, dark-purple. Japan. 



CXXXVI. CYCADACEiE, CYCAD FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs with palm-like trunks which increase by a 

 terminal bud ; the leaves pinnate and coiled in the bud, like 

 ferns. Flowers dioecious, the fertile consisting of 2 ovules 

 under scales, and arranged in cones or on the margiiis of con- 

 tracted leaves. Only two species need be mentioned here : 



Cycas revolOta,'V\\\n\h. (Lessons, Fig. 47.) Japan; a palm-like, low 

 tree of conservatories, wrongly called Sa<!o Palm ; leaves 2'^-(i° long, 

 curving outwards, the pinn?e stiff, dark-green ; stem commonly .simple. 



Z^mia iutegrifdlia, Willd. Coontie of S. Fla., whose root-like trunk, 

 which does not ri.se above groiuid, furnishes a kind of flour called Florida 

 Arrow Root ; leaves petioled and spreading, with numerous lanceolate 

 or linear-lanceolate pinnJB. 



