A genus of eight or nine closely allied species, distinguished one from another mainly by vegetative characters. They are natives of the more humid regions of the northern temperate zone, though one species (T. celebica) extends to just below the equator in Indonesia. They are evergreen shade-bearing trees or large shrubs, their leaves spirally arranged but appearing more or less two-ranked on all except vertical shoots. Male and female flowers usually borne on separate plants, in the leaf-axils of the previous season’s wood. Male flower a globose cluster of stamens. Female flower consisting of a solitary terminal ovule protected by a few whorls of green bracts, which resemble a growth-bud. Fruit a bony-shelled seed, enclosed in a fleshy aril, ripening the first year.
Taxus is the type of the small family Taxaceae, to which Torreya (q.v.) also belongs. The other members of the family, not treated here, are Pseudotaxus (one species in China, probably hardy), Amentotaxus (four species in China, one at least probably hardy); and Austrotaxus (one species in New Caledonia). This family was once grouped with the conifers but is now considered by most authorities to constitute a distinct Order, the Taxales. The Cephalotaxaceae and Podocarpaceae resemble the Yew family in their solitary seeds not borne in cones, but it is now held that these groups are true conifers in which the ovule-bearing scales have become much reduced or modified. Thus the woody arborescent gymnosperms cultivated out-of-doors in this country really represent three Orders of the plant kingdom: the Ginkgoales, with one family and genus; the Taxales, with one family, the Taxaceae; and the Coniferales, with five families – Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, Araucariaceae, Taxodiaceae, as well as the anomalous Podocarpaceae and Cephalotaxaceae.
From the Supplement (Vol. V)
Richard Williamson gives an interesting account of the Kingley Vale stand near Chichester, with its associated flora and fauna, in his book The Great Yew Forest (1978).
specimens: Loose, Maidstone, Kent, male, 60 × 32 ft (1984); Ulcombe, Kent, 42 × 34[1/2] ft at 5 ft (1985); Keffolds, Haslemere, Surrey, female, 48 × 29 ft (1982); Hambledon, Surrey, 60 × 32[3/4] ft (1984); Crowhurst, Surrey, partly dead, 56 × 32 ft (1984); Tandridge, Surrey, female with three stems coalesced, 64 × 35 ft at 3 ft (1984); Selborne, Hants, male, 70 × 25[3/4] ft (1984); South Hayling, Hants, 40 × 32 ft at 1 ft (1984); Tisbury, Wilts., 33 × 31[1/4] ft (1984); Church Preen, Shrops., 40 × 22[3/4] ft, iron band at 7 ft (1985); Darley Dale, Derbs., female, 56 × 27[3/4] ft at 6 in. (1984); Gresford, Gwyn., male, 50 × 27[3/4] ft (1980).
All the above grow in churchyards, except for the Keffolds tree. The following, none of them in churchyards, are notable for height: Close Walks, Midhurst, Sussex, 84 × 10[1/2] ft, 75 × 8 ft and 92 × 6[1/2] ft (1980); Pusey House, Faringdon, Berks., 75 × 7[1/4] ft (1980); Bradwell Grove, Oxon., 82 × 7[1/2] ft (1981); Wardour Old Castle, Wilts., line of eleven, three 82 ft high (1977); Tottenham House, Wilts., 85 × 14[1/2] ft, fine bole (1984); Enys, Cornwall, 75 × 9[1/2] ft (1977); Lowther Castle, Penrith, Cumb., 62 × 13[1/4] ft (1980).
f. aurea. – A golden yew at Westonbirt House, Glos., measures 52 × 8 ft (1982).
cv. ‘Dovastoniana’. – The original West Felton yew, planted 1777, measures 56 × 12[1/4] ft (1983). Some other examples are: Waddesdon House, Bucks., 16 × 5[1/4] ft (1984); Coleton Fishacre, Devon, pl. 1933, 23 × 4[1/2] ft (1984); Lillieshall, Shrops., 50 × 5[1/2] ft (1985).
cv. ‘Dovastonii Aurea’. – The name ‘Repens Aurea’ has been given to prostrate plants which were probably originally the result of propagating ‘Dovastonii Aurea’ from side-shoots.
cv. ‘Fastigiata’. – The nomenclature and history of the Irish yew is discussed by Charles Nelson in Glasra, Vol. 5, pp. 33-44 (1981).
The original tree at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, measures 36 × 10[1/4] ft at 2 ft, with three stems (1984). Some other examples are: Beauport, Sussex, on Golf Course, 52 × 13[3/4] ft, a remarkable size (1984); Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, 52 ft high (1985); Lostwithiel (Castle), 59 × 12[1/4] ft at ground-level (1979); Tregrehan, Cornwall, sixth in avenue, 62 ft (1979); Culzean Castle, Ayrs., Happy Valley, 62 × 10[3/4] ft at 3 ft (1984); Taymouth Castle, Perths., 56 ft (1983).
† cv. ‘Summergold’. – Foliage predominantly golden in summer, even in full sun. Semi-prostrate habit. Raised from seed in Holland, at an uncertain date.