De I. VNER VEW D Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope

194 FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE.
Asia, and Africa was long used by ancient tribes for bows, their most important
implements of war.
The leaves, which remain on the trees for many years, are flat, narrowly
lance-shaped, and sharp pointed; by a twist at their bases they appear to grow
in comb-like lines on two opposite sides of the branches, but as a matter of fact
they are arranged somewhat spirally on the branches. Male and female flowers
are each borne on different trees. (Exceptionally flowers of both sexes occur on
different branches of the same tree.) Male or pollen bearing flowers are small,
yellowish, bud-like, borne singly and rather abundantly on the under sides of the
branches; female flowers, small and greenish, occur similarly on the branches,
but are much less numerous. The latter develop into a fruit which rip-ns in one
season and usually falls from the tree shortly after maturity. The fruit is
berry-like, the single hard seed appearing to be embedded nearly to its point in
sweetish, mucilaginous, bright coral-red (but not poisonous) pulp. Seed-leaves,
regularly 2. The purple or brown bark is very thin. Wood, exceedingly finegrained,
and ranging in color from clear rose-red to dark reddish brown. It is
extremely durable under all kinds of exposure.
Yews are small trees which live to a great age. A marked characteristic is
their ability to produce permanent sprouts from cut stumps, and to grow from
cuttings. Four species are indigenous to North America. Three inhabit the
United States and adjacent portions of Canada, while a fourth appears to be
confined to Mexico. One of our species, limited to Florida, is a small tree;
another, a shrub, grows in the North Atlantic region; while one, a tree, inhabits
the Pacific forests, extending northward into adjacent Canadian territory.
Western Yew.
Taxus brevifolia Nuttall.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS.
Western yew is little known except to woodsmen in its habitat, where it is
called simply " yew." The more distinctive name suggested is desirable in view
of the fact that two other yews occur in the United States.
A small tree, from 20 to 30 feet high and from 6 to 12 inches in diameter;
much less commonly from 35 to 50 feet in height, and very rarely from 60 to
75 feet, with a diameter of from 18 to 30 inches. Trunks are straight and conical,
but conspicuously ridged and fluted by an apparent infolding of the surface.
The diameter growth is often excentric (larger on one side of the pith
than on the other). Except in larger old trees, an open conical crown extends
nearly or quite to the ground; the slender branches stand out straight, often
somewhat drooping, while from their sides and extremities very slender branchlets
hang down, so as to give a weeping appearance. This habit is strongly
marked in trees growing partly or wholly in the open, where the leafy branchlets
are very much more numerous and dense than in deep shade. The bark
is conspicuously thin, rarely over one-fourth of an inch thick, and composed of
thin, papery, purple, easily detached scales, beneath which the newer bark is a
clear rose- or purple-red. The deep yellow-green leaves (fig. 76) are soft to the
touch, and much paler on their under sides than above. Those produced in a
season perish in about five years; occasionally a few green leaves are found on
portions of 6 to 9 year old branches. The bright coral-red fruit (fig. 76), ripe
in September, begins to fall during October. It is often eaten by birds for
the sweetish mucilaginous covering, but the bard shell of the seed is unaffected
by digestion. The attractiveness of the fruit to birds serves as an important