194 FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 



Asia, and Africa was long used by ancient tribes for bows, tbeir most important 

 implements of war. 



Tbe leaves, which remain on the trees for many years, are flat, narrowly 

 lance-shaped, and sharp pointed ; by a twist at their bases they appear to grow 

 in comb-like lines on two opposite sides of the branches, but as a matter of fact 

 they are arranged somewhat spirally on the branches. Male and female flowers 

 are each" borne on different trees. (Exceptionally flowers of both sexes occur on 

 different branches of the same tree.) Male or pollen bearing flowers are small, 

 yellowish, bud-like, borne singly and rather abundantly on the under sides of the 

 branches; female flowers, small and greenish, occur similarly on the branches, 

 but are much less numerous. The latter develop into a fruit which ripens in one 

 season and usually falls from the tree shortly after maturity. The fruit is 

 berry-like, the single hard seed appearing to be embedded nearly to its point in 

 sweetish, mucilaginous, bright coral-red (but not poisonous) pulp. Seed-leaves, 

 regularly 2. The purple or brown bark is very thin. Wood, exceedingly fine- 

 grained, and ranging in color from clear rose-red to dark reddish brown. It is 

 extremely durable under all kinds of exposure. 



Yews are small trees which live to a great age. A marked characteristic is 

 their ability to produce permanent sprouts from cut stumps, and to grow from 

 cuttings. Four species are indigenous to North America. Three inhabit the 

 United States and adjacent portions of Canada, while a fourth appears to be 

 confined to Mexico. One of our species, limited to Florida, is a small tree; 

 another, a shrub, grows in the North Atlantic region ; while one, a tree, inhabits 

 the Pacific forests, extending northward into adjacent Canadian territory. 



Western Yew. 

 Taxus brevifolia Nuttall. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Western yew is little known except to woodsmen in its habitat, where it is 

 called simply " yew." The more distinctive name suggested is desirable in view 

 of the fact that two other yews occur in the United States. 



A small tree, from 20 to 30 feet high and from G to 12 inches in diameter ; 

 much less commonly from 35 to 50 feet in height, and very rarely from GO to 

 75 feet, with a diameter of from 18 to 30 inches. Trunks are straight and coni- 

 cal, but conspicuously ridged and fluted by an apparent infolding of the sur- 

 face. The diameter growth is often excentric (larger on one side of the pith 

 than on the other). Except in larger old trees, an open conical crown extends 

 nearly or quite to the ground ; the slender branches stand out straight, often 

 somewhat drooping, while from their sides and extremities very slender branch- 

 lets hang down, so as to give a weeping appearance. This habit is strongly 

 marked in trees growing partly or wholly in the open, where the leafy branch- 

 lets are very much more numerous and dense than in deep shade. The bark 

 is conspicuously thin, rarely over one-fourth of an inch thick, and composed of 

 thin, papery, purple, easily detached scales, beneath which the newer bark is a 

 clear rose- or purple-red. The deep yellow-green leaves (fig. 7G) are soft to the 

 touch, and much paler on their under sides than above. Those produced in a 

 season perish in about five years ; occasionally a few green leaves are found on 

 portions of G to 9 year old branches. The bright coral-red fruit (fig. 76), ripe 

 in September, begins to fall during October. It is often eaten by birds for 

 the sweetish mucilaginous covering, but the hard shell of the seed is unaffected 

 by digestion. The attractiveness of the fruit to birds serves as an important 



