THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



seeds collected in Japan by Professor Sargent in 

 1892, and the tallest of these in the Arnold Arbor- 

 etum is now 8 feet high. Quite recently an erect 

 form (Hicksii) has appeared in the nurseries of I. 

 Hicks & Son, Long Island, N. Y. As time goes 

 on, and the Japanese Yew is largely raised from 

 seeds, other forms will appear and there is little doubt 

 that it will ultimately produce as great a variety as 

 the English Yew has done. This is a matter nur- 

 serymen should pay attention to. 



The principal varieties of the English Yew are 

 about a dozen in number, and of these the Irish or 

 Florence-court Yew (var. jastigiata) is perhaps the 

 most strikingly distinct and best known. A de- 

 tailed account of this Yew is reserved for the chapter 

 on upright trees. The Dovaston Yew (var. Dovas- 

 tonii) is another well-known form, and a fine speci- 

 men of this grows on the Dana estate, Dosoris, Long 

 Island. This is a tree or wide-spreading shrub with 

 branches arising in whorls and becoming very pendu- 

 lous at their extremities. The original tree was 

 planted as a seedling about 1777 at Westfelton, near 

 Shrewsbury, England, and is a female tree. There 

 is a form of this Yew {aurea-variegata) in which the 

 leaves are variegated with yellow. There is another 

 Weeping Yew (var. pendula) which is a low, dense 

 shrub with no definite leader. 

 112 



