112 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
jecting on both surfaces. They are supported on short, green, 
hair-like footstalks. 
The fruit is a kind of berry, of a rich scarlet color, formed of 
the fleshy calyx, embracing the dark-colored, oval nut. When 
half grown, and green, it has a striking resemblance to an acorn. 
For the sake of the very rich green of the yew, it might be 
cultivated beneath other trees, its natural habit, to take off the 
bareness of the surface of the ground; especially under ever- 
greens planted near a dwelling-house. 
The American yew is often called ground hemlock. It is 
found at Otis, and in various other places along the Green 
Mountains. A vigorous stock of it may be seen at the Botanic 
Garden. 
The wood of the yew is of a yellowish brown color, very 
heavy, tough, and elastic. ‘The Indians often made their bows 
of it :— 
‘Their bows of double fatal yew.” 
This tree is found, prostrate, in Newfoundland, on Lake Hu- 
ron, in Canada as far as the Saskatchawan; on the banks of 
the Columbia, Mr. Douglas assures us, it attains a size equal 
to that of the yew of Europe.* 
* Hooker, Flor. Bot. Am. II, 167. 
