IN CALIFORNIA 47 



planted in its native country and often clipped into 

 formal and fantastic shapes. With us it is but a 

 large spreading shrub though with age it will come 

 to arborescent growth. It bears a somber hue ex- 

 cept when the wind upturns the branches and shows 

 the silvery sheen on the under side of the foliage. 



The so-called Irish yew is a f astigiate or narrowly 

 columnar form of the English yew and would scarce- 

 ly be suspected of being closely related. In color it 

 is a very dark green and the general appearance is 

 that of a huge bundle of closely packed perpendicu- 

 lar branches ; a favorite for formal gardens. 



DECIDUOUS TREES 



In places where summer shade and winter sun- 

 shine is desired, deciduous trees may be planted, 

 but with the splendid roads we now have in all 

 parts of California the old cry of "muddy roads 

 during the rainy season" cannot longer be offered 

 as a reason for planting deciduous trees along 

 streets and highways in a state having almost per- 

 petual sunshine and summer. 



On public or private playgrounds, picnic grounds, 

 to provide shade for summer only over certain parts 

 of the house or other buildings or over arbors, seats, 

 resting-places or plant groups or collections, de- 

 ciduous trees may not only be permissible, but ad- 

 visable. In botanic gardens and for collections of 

 deciduous plants in parks and large gardens they 

 are necessary. But for mere ornament they have 

 no place in the southern two-thirds of California. 



It may interest the reader to know that in Amer- 

 ica we have but three families of deciduous native 

 trees possessing opposite leaves, and all have repre- 

 sentatives in California and will be found fairly 

 close to streams. It is not necessary to find them 



