YELLOW-WOOD-YEVV. 345 



Excellent for spokes, bows, handles of ploughs, tools, planes and 

 spears, and largely used for carving. 



Yen-ju (Sophora japdnica L. : Order Legumindsce). China and 

 Japan. Height 40 ft. or more; diam. 2 4 ft. Hard, fine- 

 grained, ornamental. Used for turnery, furniture and interior 

 finish ; but valued as a shade tree and for its buds, the Chinese 

 \\ 'ai-hwa," which are used as a yellow or green dye. 



Yew (Tdxus baccdta L. : Order Taxinece). Europe, up to 

 altitudes of 6000 ft. in Southern Spain ; Northern and Western 

 Asia, up to 11,000 ft. in the Himalayas; and Northern Africa. 

 French "If." Germ, "Eibe," "Eibenbaum." Welsh "Yw." 

 Ancient Greek "Taxos, Melos." Modern Greek " Maurelatos." 

 Latin "Taxiis." Ital " Tasso." Span. "Texo, Tejo." Height 

 15 20 or even 50 ft., and in the Himalayas 100 ft. ; diam. 1 5 

 ft. or more, up to 19 ft. Reddish brown, resembling Mahogany, 

 irregular in its growth, heavy, very hard, close-grained, tough, 

 very elastic and flexible, susceptible of a high polish, insect-proof 

 and more durable than any other European wood, especially in 

 contact with soil, it being an old saying that " a post of yew will 

 outlast a post of iron." On old trees burrs occur, figured and 

 mottled like Amboyna-wood. Sapwood very narrow, yellowish- 

 white : annual rings very narrow, wavy, well marked by the 

 broad dark zone of autumn-wood : pith-rays indistinguishable 

 and without tracheids : wood without resin-ducts, entirely com- 

 posed of spirally-thickened tracheids (Fig. 66). "The eugh 

 obedient to the benders will," as Spenser calls it, seems to have 

 been used, owing to its combined toughness and elasticity, for 

 bows from very early times. In England, though home-grown 

 wood was used, that imported, by Venetian traders, from Italy, 

 Turkey and Spain, was of better quality. At the close ot the 

 1 6th century the practice of " backing " bows with some other 

 kind of wood was introduced, and at the present day they are 

 largely made of Lancewood and Hickory. At the present day 

 Yew is employed to some extent at High Wycombe and Worksop 

 in chair making, and on the Continent in turnery. When stained 

 black it is one of the woods known as German Ebony. Small 



