2o6 NOTES ON THE VARIETIES OF COMMON YEW. 



GROUP III. Varieties of weeping habit. 



14. T. b. Dovastonii is a weeping variety, somewhat 

 picturesque, the branches shooting horizontally to some 

 distance from the main stem, and drooping at their points. 

 The foliage is ample, of a dull dark green. 



15. T. b. Jacksonii is a distinct and elegant weeping 

 variety, with small light green leaves somewhat curled. 



1 6. T. b. recurvata is a handsome variety, with leaves 

 of a pale dull green. The habit is diffuse, rather drooping, 

 the leaves curled in the same way as in Picea nobilis. 



GROUP IV. Varieties with variegated foliage. 



17. T. b. variegata, the Golden Yew, is a well-known 

 plant of great beauty, well suited for planting in masses, 

 and relieving the monotony of large surfaces of green. 

 The gardens at Elvaston Castle derived some of their 

 celebrity from the artistic working up of quantities of this 

 beautiful tree in contrast with the darker shades of green. 

 I have heard it said, on good authority, that the Golden 

 Yew is a male plant, but as I have seeded it, I strongly 

 suspect that there are two or more varieties of too close 

 an external resemblance to be distinguished. This sup- 

 position is strengthened by the fact that the offspring 

 from seed retain the variegation of the parent, though 

 differing slightly among themselves. 



1 8. T. b. elegantissima is paler in colour, and of more 

 erect and uniform growth than the last mentioned. Both 

 these varieties, if grown entirely in the shade, quickly be- 

 come green, but regain their golden appearance on re- 

 exposure to the sun. They make handsome formal plants 

 when worked standard high on the Irish or common 

 Yew. 



19. T. b. "silver variegated" is a seedling from the 

 Golden Yew, but which I never thought sufficiently dis- 

 tinct or attractive to merit a name. 



