476 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



best of all woods for bows. Simmonds observed, that " a post of 

 yew will outlast a post of iron." Much valued also for pumps, 

 piles and water-pipes, as more lasting than any other wood ; also 

 for particular musical instruments, the strongest axletrees and 

 select implements. The tree is of very slow growth, but attains a 

 great age, perhaps three thousand years ; some ancient ones are 

 known with a stem of 50 feet in girth ; wood-rings to the extent of 

 2,880 have been counted. In the Garden it is stated, that a yew, 

 still existing at the Fountain-Abbey in Yorkshire, was already in 

 1132 a large tree, when this monastry was founded. A Taxus at 

 Tisbury, in Dorsetshire, had a stem-circumference of 37 feet ; one 

 at Eortnigal, in Perthshire, had before its mutilation a stem- 

 circumference of 52 feet. It should be kept out of the reach of 

 grazing animals, as leaves and fruit are deadly poisonous. In 

 England the tree has lately become subject to destructive attacks 

 of a fungus, the Sphaerella Taxi (Cooke). Some horticulturists 

 cut the yew fancifully into various shapes. The boughs afford 

 some of the best of living greens for garlands and other decorative 

 purposes. T. cuspidata (Siebold) is a closely cognate Japan- Yew. 



Taxus brevifolia, Nuttall. ( T. Lindleyana, Lawson.) 



Western Yew. North-Western America. A stately tree, finally 

 to 75 feet high, with a stem to 5 feet in circumference. Wood 

 beautifully whitish or slightly yellow or rose-colored, tough, very 

 hard and remarkably elastic ; as fine and close-grained as that of 

 the European Yew. The savages use it for their bows. Sir Joseph 

 Hooker regards this as well as the Japanese and some other yews 

 all as forms of one species. 



Tectona s randis. Limn' fil.* 



The u Teak " of South-Asia. This superb timber-tree has its 

 northern limit in Bandalkhand, at elevations of 3,000 feet ; it 

 ascends to 4,000 feet, but is then not of tall size ; it extends to the 

 Sunda-Islands and New Guinea ; likes rather open forest-land. In 

 Western India, according to Stewart and Brandis, frost is not 

 uncommon in the teak-districts. In eastern subtropic Australia it 

 has produced fruits, from the seeds of which new trees have been 

 raised. The leaves drop annually. Teak- wood is held in the 

 highest esteem by ship-builders ; for the backing of ironclad men- 

 of-war preferred to any other wood ; also used for the panels of 

 coaches, and for various other select purposes unsurpassed. It 

 scarcely shrinks. Price now in London 15 for 50 cubic feet. 



Tectona Hamiltoniana, Wallich. 



Lower India, yields the Burma-wood, which is heavy, close- 

 grained, streaked and susceptible to a high polish. In habit and 

 size it is similar to the ordinary Teak [Kurz], but perhaps not so 

 hardy. 



