FLORIDA YEW (_Taxus floridana_) is extremely local in its range, and
small in size. Few trees are more than twenty-five feet high and one
foot in diameter. They are bushy and of poor form for manufacturing. The
only reported use is as fence posts. The wood’s durability fits it for
that place. The species is found in Gadsden county, Florida. The leaves
are one inch or less in length; flowers appear in March, and the fruit
ripens in October. The wood is moderately heavy, hard, and
narrow-ringed, for the trees grow slowly. Its color is dark, tinged with
red, the thin sapwood being whiter. There is little prospect that the
wood of this yew will ever be more important than it is now. It is often
spoken of locally as savin, which name is likewise given to the red
cedar (_Juniperus virginiana_), which is abundant in this yew’s range.
CALIFORNIA NUTMEG (_Tumion californicum_) is an interesting tree which
ranges over a considerable portion of California, but is at its best in
Mendocino county and the coast region north of San Francisco. It occurs
also on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in central
California, at altitudes up to 5,000 feet. It receives its name from the
resemblance of its seeds to nutmegs. Their surface is shriveled, but
they do not have the nutmeg odor. The wood and the leaves, when bruised,
give off an odor not altogether pleasing. On account of this, the tree
has been called stinking cedar. In some localities it is called yew, and
in others California false nutmeg, and coast nutmeg. Trees are generally
small, with trunks of irregular form. The crown is open and usually
extends to the ground; but in crowded situations, a rather shapely bole
is developed, and the crown is small. The usual size of the tree does
not exceed a height of fifty feet and a diameter of twenty inches. More
trees are below than above that size; but in extreme cases the tree may
reach a height of eighty-five feet and a diameter of four. The leaves in
form and size resemble the foliage of yew, but their points are stiff
and sharp, and if approached carelessly they will wound like cactus
thorns. The fruit is an inch or more in length, a pulpy substance
surrounding the seed. The wood possesses properties which ought to make
it valuable, though reported uses are strictly local, such as small
cabinet work and skiff making. It is bright lemon, yellow, rather hard,
takes good polish, is of slow growth, with bands of summerwood thin but
distinct, and medullary rays small, numerous, and obscure. Its weight is
29.66 pounds per cubic foot; it is not stiff or strong. It cannot attain
high place as a manufacturing material, because it is too scarce, but
it possesses a beauty which must bring it recognition as a fine
furniture, finish, and novelty wood. A few sawlogs go to mills in the
region north of San Francisco, but the lumber is probably mixed with
other kinds and it goes to market without a name. It ought to be put to
a better use.
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