40 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



ground-level and the other 36 feet at the same 

 point. It is probable that these have either 

 originally formed one trunk and have split asunder, 

 or they have been two trees growing closely to- 

 gether. Had their tops been broken and young 

 shoots started from the base, the trees would have 

 been considered as one, beyond a doubt, and the 

 girth would have far exceeded that of the Fortingal 

 tree. 



De Candolle's method of estimating the age .by 

 the number of annual rings, gives, in young trees 

 with undecayed centres, fairly accurate results, 

 except in those instances where there is more than 

 one centre, but it can of course be applied only in 

 the case of trees which have been cut down. The 

 age of certain trees calculated in this manner proves 

 them to have passed many centuries. Various 

 species of conifers have thus been shown to have 

 as many as 300 to 1000 annual rings. Sequoia 

 gigantea is said to have reached 1 500 to 2000 

 years, and Seqiwia sempervirens 1300 to 1750 

 years. The latter, however, resembles the yew- 

 tree in some particulars, and notably in putting 

 out shoots from the base when the central trunk is 

 destroyed. These soon grow into large trees, and 

 even coalesce, so that in time there will seem to 

 have existed a tree of extraordinary girth. I have 

 seen instances in California where large trees, cut 

 down as recently as 1848 or 1849, are now sur- 



