Bridge, and Castle Eden Dene ; also in Shipley Wood near Eglestone in Tees- 
dale. — Gloucestersh. Indigenous to some of the limestone eminences of this 
county. — Hants; Apparently indigenous in this county. — Herts; On the 
mountains. — Kent; Between Tunbridge Wells and the Hi.h Rocks. — Lancash. 
At Sandside near Millthorpe; on the mountain called Yew-barrow ; and in 
other inaccessible places on Furness. — Northumb. In the Cliffs on the western 
margin of the Allen — Shropsh. Glen north of Colebrook Dale ; West side of 
the W rekin ; and in hedges between Wenlock and Bridgenorth.— Somersetsh. 
In Warley, Hampton, and other woods. — Surrey ; On Boxhill, and elsewhere. 
— Sussex ; On Harrison’s Rocks, and elsewhete at Tunbridge Wells. — West- 
moreland ; On the Rocks of Borrowdale ; and on Conzic Scar, near Kendal. — 
Wilts: Apparently indigenous in this county. On Cranborn Chase. — Wor- 
cestersh. Among the dingles of the hills at Clifton-on-Teme, Woodbury, and 
Abberly. — Yorksh. Rocks above Giggleswick ; near Fountains Abbey ; and in 
Gordale.—W A LES. In Anglesey. — Denbighsh. Cefn Rocks: B. G. — SCOT- 
LAND. Found here and there in the Highlands in atruly wild state. — IRE- 
LAND. In mountainous woods. 
A Tree. — Flowers in March and April. 
Trunk straight ; bark reddish, smooth, deciduous. Branches 
horizontal, spreading in opposite directions. Leaves scattered, 
nearly sessile, 2-ranked, strap-shaped, pointed, entire, about an 
inch long, persistent ; dark green, smooth and shining above ; paler 
beneath. Flowers axillary, solitary, each from a scaly imbricated 
bud ; the barren flowers light-brown, white with abundant pollen, 
which may often be seen, during the months of March and April, 
rising above the trees like columns of smoke ; fertile flowers green, 
resembling, with their scaly bracteas, a little acorn. Fruit droop- 
ing, consisting of a sweet, internally glutinous scarlet berry or 
drupe, open at the top, enclosing an oval brown seed, unconnected 
with the fleshy part. 
A variegated variety is sometimes met with in gardens, but is 
rather rare. 
The Yew is one of the most tonsile trees we have ; and hence, when the 
formal systems of horticulture were in vogue, yew hedges and yew images were 
in great repute. Few vestiges of this perversion of taste, however, now remain. 
The wood is hard and beautifully veined, and much valued for cabinet-maker’s 
work; its uncommon pliancy, and toughness, made it particularly proper for 
bows ; and those made of yew were esteemed superior to every other ; and it is 
the opinion of some writers that it was on that account it was so frequently 
planted in church-yaids ; but Sir Thomas Browne supposes the planting of this 
tree in church-yards to derive its origin ftom ancient funeral rites, being, on ac- 
count of its perpetual verdure, used as a symbol of the resurrection. Evelyn 
is of the same opinion. — The leaves of the Yew are poisonous, especially in a 
green state. The berries have a sweet mawkish taste, and may be eaten without 
danger; but the seeds are said to be unwholesome. Spheeria Taxi, Hook. Br. 
FI. v. ii. pt. n. p. 272, is common on the leaves of this tree about Oxford. 
The Yew is very long-lived, (see Mag. Nat. Hist. v. i. new series, pp. 28 and 
85.) and often attains to an enormous magnitude. Lightfoot tells us of one 
tree which Mr. Pennant saw in Fortingal church-yard, whose trunk measured 
56 feet and a half in circumference. The most remarkable Yew in the neigh- 
bourhood of Oxford, is one in Iffley church-yard, which is supposed to be as 
old as the church itself (above 700 years). It is 22 feet high ; the girt of the 
trunk, at two feet from the ground, 20 feet ; and the diameter of the head 25 
feet. The trunk is now (Feb. 15, 1837) little more than a shell, with an open- 
ing 4 feet square on the East side. A small, but correct, figure of this tree may 
be seen in the S. W. view of Iffley Church, in the Memorials of Oxford. 
Much curious and interesting information relating to the Yew, together with 
the age and dimensions of the most remarkable trees of that kind in Britain, 
may be seen in Martyn's ed. of Miller's Gardener’s and Bot. Dictionary ; 
With. Bot. Air. 7th ed : Mr. Lees’ Lect. on the Affinities of Plants with 
Man and Animals ; and especially in Mr. Louoon’s Arboretum Brit.; the 
several volumes of his Gardener’s Mag.; and his Mag. of Nat. History. — 
The Irish Yew is elevated to the rank of a species by Dr. Lindley ; perhaps 
justly. See Syn. of Brit. FI. p. 241. It is figured in Loun. Ar. Brit, t.294. 
