746 CCXXIII. CONIFEE^. 



volatile oil, whicli is anthelminthic and an emmenagogue. .7. Virgmiana, commonly called Red Cedar, 

 has leaves vyith a resinous scent, but not foetid, whicli may be substituted for those of J. Sabina. Its 

 reddish sweet-scented light wood is easily worked, and used in making lead pencils [as is- its variety J. 

 Bermudiana, of which the celebrated Bermuda sailing vessels are also made]. 



Taxodium distiohum, the Deciduous Cypress, is a tree of the Louisianiau swamps, now naturalized in 

 several parts of Europe. Its cones are used as diuretics in Anglo-American medicine, and its resin is 

 praised as efficacious in arthritic pains. The roots produce conical hollow excrescences [several feet high], of 

 which the Americans make beehives. The Cypress (Otipressits semper virens) grows wild in the Levant ; 

 its sombre hue has caused it to be consecrated to the dead, but the variety pyramidale is more parti- 

 cularly planted in cemeteries ; its wood is hard, reddish, aromatic and nearly indestructible. The Thuya 

 (Biota orientalis), commonly called Tree of Life, a native of China, was introduced into France in the 

 reign of Francis the First. T. occidentalis, an American species whose branches exhale a strong smell of 

 treacle, was formerly recommended for its diuretic qualities. Callitris quadnvalms, a Mauritanian tree, 

 secretes a resin known as Sandarac. At the base of its trunk enormous knots are produced, called by the 

 ancient Romans Citron-wood, of which they made tables, which were bought for their weight in gold ; 

 Pliny mentions one purchased by Cicero for 8,750Z., and another which was sold by auction for 12,260/. 



Teibe III. TAXmE^, L.-C. Rich. 



Trees or shrubs, not resinous ; branches scattered, rarely whorled ; huds scaly. 

 Leaves persistent or annual {Salishurya), scattered or disticlious, rarely fascicled 

 (Salisburya), simple, entire, rigid, linear, sometimes flabelliform, lobed, or reduced 

 to a scale whicli bears in its axil a branch dilated into a phyllode (Phyllocladus). 

 Flowers dicecious, the $ in sub-globose or elongated catkins, the 5 solitary, or 

 united into a short spike, often surrounded by imbricate bracts at their base. — 

 Catkins $ naked or with scales at the base. Stamens numerous, naked, arranged 

 along the axis of the catkin ; filaments very short, prolonged into a laciniate connec- 

 tive {Salishurya, Phyllocladus), or peltate {Taxus) ; anthers 2-3-8-celled, dehiscence 

 longitudinal ; pollen globose. — Flowers $ naked or bracteate, each inserted on 

 a cupuliform disk, at first short, then accrescent; ovule solitary, sessile in the 

 centre of the disk, erect, orthotropous ; micropyle superior. Drupe composed of the 

 thickened and fleshy disk, surrounding an erect seed, with bony testa, or sometimes 

 fleshy {Salishurya). Embryo antitropous, in the axis of a fleshy dense albumen, 

 sometimes farinaceous {Taxus), or ruminate {Torreya) ; cotyledons 2, semi-cylindric ; 



radicle cylindric, superior. 



PBINCIPAL GENERA, 



* Taxus. * Phyllocladus. * Salisburya. * Cephalotaxus. 



Torreya. Pherosphsera. Lepidothamnus. Saxe-Gothea.' 



TaxinecB are separated from the preceding tribe, both by the succulent cup which surrounds their 

 seeds, and by their fleshy testa. They are met with in all temperate regions, as well as on tropical 

 mountains in Asia and America. Central and Mediterranean Europe possess the common Yew (Taxus 

 haccata), which is also spread over North Asia [and America]. Of Torreya one species is Japanese, the 

 other Floridan ; Phyllocladus inhabits Tasmania, New Zealand [New Caledonia and Borneo] ; Cephalo- 

 taxus and Salisburya are natives of Japan and China [Fherosphcera of Tasmania, and Lepidothamntis and 

 Saxe-Gothea of Chili]. 



Taxinete secrete, like the preceding Conifers, but much less abundantly, resinous juices combined 

 with a volatile oil, and astringent bitter, sometimes narcotic-acrid principles. The common Yew formerly 

 formed forests in some parts of Europe ; its longevity is greater than that of !>ny other tree ; its red wood, 



' To these Parlatore adds Bacrydium and Fodocarpus, both included under Abietinecs by others. — Ed. 



