3io 



DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST 



hair fern. They and one or two others are survivors of 

 an important extinct group (the Gingkoaceae), which we 

 know by their fossil remains flourished in great numbers 

 before the chalk period. Then we have : fifth, the 



order Taxaceae (or 

 yew trees); and, sixth, 

 the order Coniferae (or 

 cypresses, pines, 

 cedars, and firs). The 

 first four orders, 

 though very interest- 

 ing, exceptional 

 plants we will leave 

 aside, as they do not 

 come very near to the 

 Coniferae. The order 

 of yew trees, Taxaceae, 

 however, does come 

 close to the Coniferae, 

 and sometimes they 

 are grouped together. 



There is one truly 

 native British ex- 

 ample of the order 

 Taxaceae — the com- 

 mon yew tree, called 

 " Taxus baccata " by 

 botanists. Its leaves 

 are " needles," like 

 those of most conifers, but much flattened, and it has the 

 sombre colour and the general aspect of some of the larger 

 conifers. But its ovule-bearing flower, although it appears 

 when young (Fig. 32, b) to be built up by several scale- 

 like leaves like the cone of a conifer, does not continue in 



Fig. 32. — The Common Yew, Taxus baccata. 



a, Part of a branch (of the natural size) showing 

 the needle-like leaves in two opposite rows, 

 and three fruits. The cup-like growth 

 which is seen surrounding the naked seed 

 is called an " aril." It is of a fine crimson 

 colour, soft, juicy, and sweet-tasting. 



b, The young cone-like growth or " flower " of 

 the yew, from the end of which one seed and 

 its cup-like aril will develop. Magnified. 



c, The seed surrounded by the incompletely 

 grown aril or cup at a later stage. Less 

 highly magnified than b. 



