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no The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
A. Fastigiate Forms.—In these the branches take an upward direction (vertical
or ascending), and the leaves tend to spread out radially from the branchlets.
i. Var. fastigiata, Irish Yew, Florencecourt Yew.
Taxus toccata fastigiata, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 2066 (1838).
Taxus fastigiata, Lindley, Syn. Brit, flora, 241 (1829).
Taxus hibernica, Hook, ex Loudon, loc. fit.
Columnar and compact in habit, all the branches and branchlets being directed
vertically upwards. Branches stout, branchlets few and short. Leaves, always
spreading radially in all directions around the branchlets, dark green and shining, with
the apex usually more obtuse than in the common yew. Dr. Masters considers the
Irish yew to be a juvenile form, 1 in which the characters of the seedling (the radial
disposition of the leaves and the upright habit) are preserved throughout the life of
the plant. As the original tree was a female, and the variety is propagated by cuttings,
all Irish yews are of the same sex. When they bear flowers they are generally fertilised
by the pollen of common yews growing in their neighbourhood, and the seed resulting,
when planted, generally produces plants indistinguishable from the common yew. 2
Dr. Masters 1 received from Mr. Tillett of Sprowston, near Norwich, sprays of an Irish
yew which bore male flowers. This was apparently an instance of a monoecious
tree, a phenomenon which occurs though rarely in the common yew. No true male
Irish yew has ever been met with. The aril of the Irish yew differs usually from
that of the common form in being more oblong in shape.
The Irish yew was discovered 3 in the mountains of Fermanagh above Florence-
court by a farmer named Willis about the year 1780. He found two plants, one of
which he planted in his own garden, and is now no longer living. The other was
planted at Florencecourt, the seat of the Earl of Enniskillen ; and from it cuttings
were distributed, which are the source of all the Irish yews in cultivation. The
original tree is still living, and a figure of it is given in Veitch's Manual, p . 141, as it
appeared about thirty years ago. Kent says that in 1900 it had an open straggling
appearance.
One of the finest Irish yews known to us is that at Seaforde, near dough, Co.
Down, the seat of Major W. G. Forde. This tree was reported to be 33 feet high
in 1888,* and 35^ feet in 1903. 5 A plate of it is given (Plate 58), reproduced from a
photograph kindly sent us by the owner, who reports the present measurements
(1905) to be: Height, 37 feet; girth at the ground, 9 feet; circumference of
branches at 20 feet from the ground, 91 feet.
Two large trees exist at Comber, Co. Down, of which Mr. Justice Andrews
gives the following particulars in a letter:
"The Irish upright yew trees at Comber, mentioned in Mackay's Flora
Hibernica ( 1836), p. 260, are the two large yews" in the garden beside ' Araghmore,'
the residence of Mrs. John Andrews. My earliest recollection of them goes back
1 Card. Chron. 1 891, x. 68.
2 Sir C. Stricklancl writes in Card. Chron. 1 877, vii. 151 : "All the plants I have raised from Irish yew berries are
exactly like the common yew." But Elwes saw at Orion Hall three seedlings from the Irish yew of which one was fastigiate
in habit. 3 Card. Chron. 1 873, p. 1336. 4 Ibid. 1 888, iv. 484.
6 Ibid. 1 903, xxxiii. 60. 6 London figures one of these on p. 2067.
Taxus in
60 or 70 years, and they were then apparently as tall as they are now, but not so
much spread out. I cannot accurately estimate their height and girth, but they are
the two largest upright yews I have seen."
At Brockhill, 1 Worcester, there are two large Irish yews, estimated by Mr. Lees
to have been at least 100 years old. Very handsome specimens are also growing at
Montacute House, Somerset.
The Irish yew is very effective as a garden tree, but requires pruning and wiring
every two or three years in order to keep it in good shape. There is at Colesborne
a terrace planted on both sides with Irish yews about 50 years ago, which are kept
in shape by wire, and when so treated are of very uniform growth and habit.
Taxus fastigiata aurea is a form of the Irish yew, in which the young shoots
are golden yellow. In Taxus fastigiata argentea the tips of the branchlets are white.
2. Var. Chesthiintensis.
Taxus baccata Chesthuntensis, Gordon, Pinet. Suppl. 9 8 (1862).
This was raised by William Paul of the Cheshunt Nursery from a seed of the
Irish yew, which it resembles. The branches, however, are ascending, but not
so erect as in the parent form. The leaves have an acute apex, and resemble in
colour those of the Irish yew, being dark green and shining on the upper surface ;
they are broader and shorter than those of the common yew. It is less formal than
the Irish yew, and is said to grow twice as fast.
3. Var. elegantissima.—This was raised, according to Barren, 2 by Fox of the
Wetley Rock Nurseries, who had an Irish and a golden yew growing together,
from which this came as a seedling. It is generally a dense compact shrub, but
forms occur which are more open in habit. The leaves are usually radially spread
ing, but are often two-ranked on some of the branchlets; they are long, and
terminate gradually in a long, fine cartilaginous point. Young leaves are golden
yellow ; adult leaves have white margins.
4. Var. erecta.
Taxus baccata erecta, Loudon, loc. cit. 2068 (1838).
Taxus baccata Crmvderi, Gordon, Pin. Suppl. 98 (1862).
Taxus baccata stricta, Hort.
A dense broad shrub with erect and ascending branches. The leaves are dark
green, shining, short, and acute; and are usually radially arranged, but often on the
lower branchlets are disposed in two ranks.
The Nidpath Yew 3 resembles this variety, but is more columnar in habit, with
a tendency to spread at the top. The leaves, as seen on a shrub at Kew, are
bluish green, and usually are all radially arranged.
A variety named imperialis is described as being a slender, tall form with
ascending branches and dark green leaves.
1 Trans. Worcester Nat. Hist. Club, 1 847-1896, p. 211.
2 Card. Chron. 1 868, p. 921. Veitch's Manual, 1st ed. 302, states that it was introduced by Messrs. Fisher, Son, and
Sibray of the Handsworth Nurseries, near Sheffield. s Nicholson, Diet, of Gardening, iv. 12.