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WISCONSIN  HORTICULTURE 
Types Of Japanese Yews 
          Illustrations Courtesy D. Hill Nursery Co., Dundee, IlL 
T HE Japanese Yew is today 
   our most outstanding ever- 
green for ornamental purposes. 
It has unusual merit because of 
its richness of color, variation of 
form, ease of training and prun- 
ing, thriftiness of growth, and 
adaptability to various soils afnd( 
locations. 
  The Japanese Yew    was un- 
known outside of Japan less than 
a hundred years ago. About 1860 
they were brought to America. 
Since that time many new forms 
have been developed. These hor- 
ticultural species offer the great- 
est opportunity for landscape de- 
velopment. 
  The Japanese Yew seems to be 
hardy most anywhere in Wiscon- 
sin. It can be planted in the shade 
on the North side of the home, 
and is perhaps our best ornamen- 
tal evergreen for that particular 
location. In fact, the only locality 
where Yews seem to suffer bad- 
ly is in the great Plain states 
where there are prolonged ple- 
riods of severe heat and drought. 
Dwarf Japanese Yew 
row pyramid or developed into a 
broad form. 
      Dwarf Japanese Yew 
  The Dwarf Japanese Yew, Tax- 
us cuspidata nana is one of the 
oldest horticultural forms of this 
Yew. It is dark in color, of ex- 
tremely slow growth, and forms 
a low picturesque outline. There 
are specimens 30 to 40 years old 
which are 15 to 20 feet in diam- 
eter, and up to 4'2 to 5 feet in 
height. This, therefore is an ideal 
tree for dwarf edging because of 
slow growth and compact foli- 
age. 
         Hatfield Yew 
  The Hatfield Yew, Taxus cus- 
pidata hatfieldi, is a well known 
hybrid form developed by the late 
Mr. Hatfield of Massachusetts. 
The color is rich dark green, and 
the foliage heavy and luxuriant. 
It grows with several upright 
Spreading Japanese Yew 
The Spreading Japanese Yew 
  The spreading Japanese Yew, 
Taxus cuspidata capitata is the 
seedling form  which normally 
grows in a pyramidal form. The 
habit of growth may be influ- 
enced by early pruning and train- 
ing. It has a tendency to grow 
with more than one stem, but 
trees are usually trained to one 
stem. It may be grown in a nar- 
Hatfield Yew 
Hick's Yew 
perpendicular stems, nearly as 
broad at the bottom as at the top. 
          Hick's Yew 
  The Hick's Yew, Taxus cuspi- 
data hicksi or Taxus media hicks 
is a columnar form with branches 
ascending almost vertically, giv- 
ing the tree an extremely colum- 
nar narrow shape. It was intro- 
duced and named for the Hicks 
Nursery. It is one of the most 
widely known of the Japanese 
Yew varieties and is now exten- 
sively planted and widely appre- 
ciated. It has good, rich, dark 
glossy green color and an en- 
tirely distinct growing  habit, 
which may vary greatly depend- 
ing upon the method of trim- 
mring. 
  Some nurserymen grow      the 
Hick's Yew in a cigar shape. Oth- 
ers make a broader specimen. 
  For narrow hedges the Hick's 
Yew is very satisfactory. 
         Brown's Yew 
  The Brown's Yew, Taxus cus- 
pidata browni, is a selected seed- 
ling of the Taxus cuspidata. It 
was developed by the Cottage 
Gardens, Long Island, New York, 
and named for Mr. Robert Brown 
of that firm. It has dark, heavy 
green foliage, is a fast grower 
and has a most attractive habit. 
The exact form may vary some- 
what with trimming. 
236 
April, 1940