N. O. CONIFERS. 1229 



Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, extending westwards to 

 Afghanistan, and eastwards to Bhutan and Khasia Hills. 



A large, ever-green tree attaining in the Himalayas 10ft. 

 and 20ft. girth of trunk. Branches spreading. Bark thin, 

 purplish-grey, peeling off longitudinally. Wood hard, close and 

 even-grained, smooth ; sapwood white, heartwood orange-red, 

 light-red or white. Kanjilal says " though ' generally middle- 

 sized,' the tree is sometimes very large, with a large spreading 

 crown." Trunk short, branches horizontal, foliage dark-green. 

 Leaves flattened, coriaceous, linear, distichous, l-ljin. long, 

 1-nerved, narrowed into a short petiole, no resin canal. Flowers 

 dioecious, on short axillary branchlets, which are densely clothed 

 with imbricating bracts. Male flowers pedicelled, sub-globose, 

 with numerous, peltate scales, each bearing on the underside 

 3-6 anther-cells, dehiscing longitudinally. Female flower 

 a single, erect ovule, surrounded at the base by a disc which is 

 membranous in flower, but enlarges into a red, fleshy cup, 

 surrounding the seed ; testa hard ; embryo in the upper portion 

 of the endo-sperm ; cotyledons 2, thick, fleshy. 



Uses : — "The leaves contain a volatile oil, tannic and gallic 

 acids, and a resinous substance called toxin. Yew leaves and 

 fruits have been given for their emmenagogue, sedative and 

 anti-spasmodic effects. Pereira says that therapeutically the 

 yew appears to hold an intermediate position between Savin 

 and Digitalis, being allied to the former by its acrid, diuretic 

 and emmenagogue properties, and to the latter by the giddiness, 

 irregular and depressed action of the heart, convulsions and 

 insensibility, which it produces. Yew is, however, reported to 

 have one decided advantage over Digitalis by its effects not 

 accumulating in the system, so that it is a much more manage- 

 able remedy than Digitalis. Besides its use as an emmena- 

 gogue and sedative in the same cases as Savin and Digitalis are 

 administered, it has also been employed as a lithic in calculus 

 complaints ; and as an anti-spasmodic in epilepsy and con- 

 vulsions. According to Dr. Taylor the yew tree is sometimes 

 used by ignorant persons to cause abortion. At the present 

 time, yew is never used in regular medical practice in Europe, 



