TAXACEAE. 25 



ing. Stamens and ovules on separate trees. Staminate catkins with many 

 stamens, each with 2 to 6 pollen-sacs. Ovulate catkins of 3 to 6 succulent 

 coalcscent scales, each bearing 1 or 2 ovules. Cones fleshy and^berry-like, 

 ripe in the second year, in ours 1 to 3-seeded; cotyledons 2 to <i. (Ancient 

 Latin oame.) 



1. J. californica Carr. California Juniper. Shrub or low tree 5 to L5 ft. 

 high; leaves in 3s, ovate, acute, each with a dorsal pit towards the base, 

 crowded on the ultimate branchlets or occasionally tree and subulate, y% to 1 

 line long; berries reddish or brownish, covered with a dense white bloom, sub- 

 globose or oblong, 4 to 7 lines long, with dry fibrous sweet flesh and 1 to 3 

 seeds; seeds ovate, acute, brown, with a thick smooth but angled or ridged 

 polished bony shell, 3 to 5% lines long; cotyledons 4 to 6. 



Dry hills or mountain sides. Local in the region northerly and westerly 

 from Clear Lake; Alt. Diablo; south of Hollister to Southern California; 

 Tehachapi Alts, to Kernville; Coulterville. 



J. occidextalis Hook., Sierra Juniper, is common at 6,000 to 10,000 ft. 

 in the Sierra Nevada; berries smaller, blue-black, the flesh juicy; seeds 1 to 4, 

 cotyledons 2. 



TAXACEAE. Yew Family. 



Trees or shrubs with linear leaves 2-ranked by a twist in their petioles. Sta- 

 mens and ovules borne on different trees and appearing in early spring from 

 axillary scaly winter buds. Stamens united by their filaments into a column 

 with 4 to 8 pollen-sacs pendent from each filament. Ovule solitary, terminal 

 on a short axillary branch. Seeds set loosely in a fleshy cup, or quite enveloped 

 by it and thus appearing drupe-like, ripe in first autumn; cotyledons 2. 



Fruit red, berry-like; leaves ^ to ^ in. long, acute 1. Taxus. 



Fruit green or purplish, plum-like; leaves 1 % to 2 l / 2 in. long, stiffish, bristle-pointed. 



2. Torrkya. 



1. TAXUS L. Yew. 



Trees or shrubs, the leaves bluntish or merely acute. Stamens 7 to 12 in a 

 cluster, the 4 to 9 pollen-sacs borne under a shield-like crest. Ovule seated upon 

 a circular disk which in fruit becomes cup-shaped, fleshy, and red, surrounding 

 the bony seed, the whole berry-like. (Ancient Latin name of the yew, prob- 

 ably from Creek toxon, a bow, the wood used for bows.) 



1. T. brevifolia Nutt. Western Yew. Small tree 10 to 30 ft. high, the 

 crown irregular with the branches of unequal length and standing at various 

 angles but tending to droop; bark thin, red-brown, shreddy; leaves Linear, acute 

 at apex, shortly petioled, flat, with midrib in relief above and below, :> or 

 mostly 6 to 8 lines long, 1 line wide, spreading right and left in Hat sprays; 

 seeds borne on the under side of the sprays and when mature set in n fleshy 

 scarlet cup, the whole looking like a brilliantly colored berry. 



Deep, shady canons: Santa Cruz Alts. ; Mt. St. Helena; Mendocino Co. 

 (Laytonville, Sherwood) and northward to Mt. Shasta, thence south through 

 the Sierra Nevada. Localities few and scattered, and the individuals not 

 numerous. Wood fine and close-grained, hard, heavy and durable. 



2. TORREYA Arn. Stinking Yew. 



Trees with rigid sharp-pointed leaves in 2 ranks. Stamen clusters solitary 

 in the adjacent leaf axils, borne on 1-year-old branches, made up of 6 to 8 

 whorls of stamens, 4 stamens in a whorl, each filament with 4 pollen-sacs with- 

 out crests. Ovule completely covered by a fleshy aril-like coat, the whole becom- 



