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YEW (Taxus baccata)
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See also:YEW (Taxus baccata) , a See also:tree which belongs to a genus of Coniferae (see See also:GYMNOSPERMS), in which the ordinarily woody Yew. 1, shoot with male See also:flowers; 2, See also:leaf and in See also:section; 3, See also:branch bearing two ripe seeds each with its See also:crimson aril; 4, male flowers; 5, stamens; 6, 7, See also:female See also:flower in different stages; 8, section of ripe See also:seed and aril, a. 1, slightly reduced ; 2, and 4 to 8, enlarged. See also:cone is represented by a single seed surrounded by a fleshy See also:cup. Usually it forms a See also:low-growing See also:evergreen tree of very a 8 diverse See also:habit, but generally with dense spreading branches, thickly covered with very dark See also:green linear leaves, which are given off from all sides of the branch, but which, owing to a twist in the See also:base of the leaf, become arranged in a single See also:series on each See also:side of it. The trees are usually dioecious, the male flowers being See also:borne on one individual and the female on another, although instances occur in which flowers of both sexes are formed on the same tree. The male flowers are more or less globular and occur in the axils of the leaves. They consist of a number of overlapping brownish scales, gradually increasing in See also:size from below upwards and surrounding a naked stalk that bears at its See also:summit a See also:head of four to eight stamens. Each stamen has a See also:flat five-lobed See also:top, something like a See also:shield; from its under See also:surface, five, six or more See also:pollen cases hang down, and these open lengthwise to liberate the globose pollen-grains. The female flowers are also placed each separately in the axil of a leaf, and consist of a number of overlapping scales, as in the male. These scales surround a cup which is at first shallow, green and thin (the so-called aril), but which subsequently becomes fleshy and red, while it increases so much in length as almost entirely to conceal the single straight seed. It is clear that the structure of the female flower differs from that of most conifers, from which it is now often separated in a distinct See also:order, Taxacea.e. The poisonous properties, referred to by classical writers such as See also:Caesar, See also:Virgil and See also:Livy, reside chiefly if not entirely in the foliage. This, if eaten by horses or See also:cattle, especially when it has been cut and thrown in heaps so as to undergo a See also:process of See also:fermentation, is very injurious. The leaves have also been used for various medicinal purposes, but are not employed now. An See also:alkaloid taxine, said to depress the circulation, is extracted. It forms See also: The See also:evidence of fossil remains, antiquities and See also:place-names indicates that it was formerly more widely spread in Europe than at the See also:present See also:day. The varieties grown in the See also:United See also:Kingdom are numerous, one of the most striking being that known as the Irish yew—a See also:shrub with the pyramidal or columnar habit of a See also:cypress, in which the leaves spread from all sides of the branches, not being See also:twisted, as they usually are, out of their See also:original position. In the See also:ordinary yew the See also:main branches spread more or less horizontally, and the leaves are so arranged as to be conveniently exposed to the See also:influence of the See also:light; but in the variety in question the branches are mostly See also:vertical, and the leaves assume a direction in accordance with the ascending direction of the branches. The See also:plants have all sprung from one of two trees found growing wild more than a See also:hundred years ago on the mountains of Co. See also:Fermanagh in See also:Ireland, and afterwards planted in the See also:garden of See also:Florence See also:Court, a seat of the See also:earl of See also:Enniskillen.
The yew is a favourite evergreen tree, either for planting separately or for hedges, for which its dense foliage renders it well suited. Its dense growth when pruned has led to its extensive use in See also:topiary work, which was introduced by See also: The Crowhurst yew, mentioned by Evelyn as 30 ft. in circumference, still exists. The large yew at Ankerwyke, near See also:Staines, with a See also:trunk 304 ft. in circumference, in sight of which Magna Carta was signed (1215), probably exceeds a thousand years of See also:age. The See also:fine yew in See also:Buckland See also:churchyard, near See also:Dover, was removed in 188o to a distance of 6o yds. The trunk had been split so that it had a direction nearly parallel with the See also:soil. This huge tree was moved with a See also:ball of soil See also:round its roots, 16 ft. 5 in. by 15 ft. 8 in., by 3 ft. 62 in. in See also:depth, the See also:weight of the entire See also:mass being estimated at 56 tons. The dimensions of the tree in 188o were as follows: " circumference of the main trunk, 22 ft.; of the upright portion of the trunk, 6 ft. so in.; second See also:horizontal trunk, 10 ft. 10 in.; do., See also:south See also:limb forking off at 9 ft. from the main trunk,
7 ft. to in.; do., See also:west limb forking off at 9 ft. from the main trunk,
8 ft. 8 in.; extent of branches from centre of main trunk southwards, 30 ft. io in., and from See also:north to south, 48 ft.; they extend from the main trunk. westward 33 ft." The tree was replanted so that the horizontal portions were replaced in their original erect position and the natural symmetry restored.
For further details see See also:Veitch, See also:Manual of Coniferae (1900); Elwes and See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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