91 
YEW-LEAVED TORREYA. 
TORREYA taxifolia. Arnott, in Hook. Icon. Plant. Ined. vol. 3, part 
5, tab. 133, 133. (Exclude the Synonym of Taxus montana, Nutt.) 
This stately evergreen, resembling the Yew, was disco- 
vered in Middle Florida, by the late lamented H. B. Croom 
of Tallahassee, and is sufficiently abundant around Aspa- 
laga to be used as timber and sawed into planks. Accord- 
ing to Professor Torrey and Mr. Croom, it is a tree of from 
6 to 18 inches in diameter, and from 20 to 40 feet high, 
with numerous spreading branches, the branchlets dividing 
into threes : its appearance at a distance is not unlike to 
that of the Hemlock Spruce (Abies canadensis'). The wood 
in the section given me by Dr. Torrey is rather light, not 
very close-grained, and of a yellowish-white colour, almost 
like that of some of the Pines ; it is, probably, however, 
only the sap-wood, for in old trees it is said to be of a 
reddish colour, like that of the Red Cedar ( Juniperus vir- 
giniana ) : It has a strong and peculiar odour, especially 
when bruised or burnt, and hence it is frequently called, in 
the country where it grows, “ Stinking Cedar j” it makes 
excellent rails for fence, and is not liable to the attack of 
insects. A blood-red turpentine, of a pasty consistence, 
flows sparingly from the bark, which is soluble in alcohol, 
forming a deep clear solution, and when heated evolves a 
very powerful terebinthinous, but unpleasant odour. 
The foliage is much like that of the Yew, but the leaves 
are broader and marked with two longitudinal lines. The 
ripe fruit, or rather seed, is as large as a nutmeg, it has no 
