Taxus baccata var. varegata

1g. Taxus baccata var. variegata Weston (Figs. 117–120), Bot. Univ. 1: 292, 347 (1770).  Taxus baccata var. foli-variegata, Loudon, Arb. Brit. 4: 2068 (1838), “T. b. 6 foliis variegates.” Taxus baccata (var.) variegata aurea Carrière, Traité gén. conif. 518 (1855); Taxus baccata (var.) aurea Carrière, Traité gén. conif. 734 (1867). Taxus baccata subf. aureo-variegata Pilger, Pflanzenreich 18 (iv, 5): 114 (1903). Taxus baccata f. aurea (Carrière) Pilger, Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 25: 11. 1916. Taxus baccata aurea elegantissima Kent, Veitch man. conif. ed. 2., 126. 1900. Taxus baccata fastigiata aureo-variegata Beissner, Handb. Nandelholzk. 170 (1891).  Taxus communis aurea (Nels.) Pinaceae 172. 1866.  Original material and origin unknown. Neotype (designated, Spjut 2007b)—Finland. Ålandia, Lemland—Florström at BM! (leaves with 11/12 stomata rows/band and an abaxial marginal area of 4 rows of rectangular, smooth cells).

Taxus baccata var. cheshuntensis [Hort. ex] Paul, Proc. Hort. Soc. Lond. 1: 492. 1861, taxonomic synonym proposed. Taxus baccata f. fastigiata Pilger subf. cheshuntensis Pilger, Pflanzenreich 18 (iv, 5): 115. 1903. Taxus baccata (f.) cheshuntensis Beissner, Handb. Nandelholzk. 170. 1891. Original material unknown, described from Horticulture: “raised from seed of Irish yew in Paul’s nursery at Cheshunt, England, around 1857” (den Ouden and Boom 1965). Relevant material possibly at K “Taxus baccata cheshuntensis,” “ forma No. 11 Subf. g” on sheet with four other specimens of “variegata,” and “aurea” (leaves with 12 stomata rows/band, abaxial border of 5 smooth cells, papillose midrib). Other related material at K: Herb. Gordon ex Hooker 1876, forma II Subf. L! with three other specimens on the same sheet, “Imperialis,” “nana,” and “epacroides” (stomata 8–9 rows/band, abaxial margin with 12 rows of smooth cells).  Type undetermined.

Spreading yew. Distribution: Europe.

Shrubs or trees with ascending branches, the branchlets fastigiate, or in whorls, stiff, ascending or spreading recurved, yellowish green on young growth, pale orange with age, leaves wide spreading in nearly two ranks but mostly erect, oblong, obtuse to acute, olive green above, pale orange to rusty orange beneath; male cones in globular aggregates near apex of branchlets, or reflexed in a racemose arrangement; seeds maturing on 2^nd yr or older growth, subcylindric, pale orange to purplish.

Taxus baccata var. variegata is recognized by the rigid nearly pinnate or whorled branchlets with most leaves erect (bent upwards).   Taxus baccata var. elegantissima is perhaps most similar; it differs by the less rigid branchlets, which are often more dichotomously branched, and by the leaves that are slightly longer and more narrowly tapered (or more strongly recurved along margins) to apex.  Other similar varieties include T. baccata var. baccata, distinguished by the more frequent dichotomous branching and leaves spreading evenly in one plane from two sides of a branchlet so as to appear in two-ranks, var. glauca, which is like var. variegata in its upward pointed leaves, but differs by the wider often recurved spreading branchlets, and T. baccata var. jacksonii, recognized by the flexuous branchlets having leaves strongly convex across the adaxial surface.  Differences in color are also used to distinguish these varieties, particularly the orange tint that is often evident on branches of var. jacksonii, and a yellow color on young leaves and spotty orange on branchlets of var. glauca, in contrast the dull olive green color in var. variegata, while other varieties vary somewhat in shades of green.

The variegated  yew may prove to be of hybrid origin between T. baccata and T. fastigiata.  This seems evident from the leaf arrangement that is similar to T. recurvata cv. ’Expansa’,  and by the branching that compares to cultivated specimens referred to as  cheshuntensis, a name applied to a plant originating from seed of T. fastigiata.  Also, leaves from three of seven specimens assigned to var. variegata were found to have 11–12 stomata rows per band, while a leaf from another specimen of a cultivar lacked papillae across 9 marginal cells.  Leaves of the Irish yew have been found with more than 10 stomata rows and often lack papillae across a broad marginal  zone.  Although some specimens cited under var. variegata are from cultivation, others appear wild, which includes the type from Finland.

Among the specimens cited below is one collected by Barron (K) from Buckland Kent (England) that was reportedly from a monoecious tree, which may be related to cultivars in the Kew Gardens with tags bearing the name ‘Barronii’.  The plants were also observed to have yellow arils.  This variety appears to have been recognized by Loudon (1844), judging from one of his illustrations of yews that show a tree with ascending branchlets and erect leaves that compares favorably with this specimen.  A variety of Taxus baccata that is distinguished for its yellow aril also differs by other character features as described elsewhere under var. fructo-lutea.

Representative Specimens—Portugal—Azores: Pico, Quinta das Rosas, 150 m, Goncalves 4491 (BM); Azores, Patal, Horts, Goncalves 4625 (BM). England: Kent, Buckland, Barron (K).  Finland: Alandia, Ekerö, Lindberg 419 (K).   Sweden: Södermanland, Sternvall 1872 (K). Cultivation: unknown origin: Ex Herb. Gordon (ed. 2), in adnot. “T. baccata elegantissima,” and “forma II fastigiata subf C. elegantissima” (K); ex Hillier Arb., BM (NH) Staff 1441, in adnot. T. baccata 'elegantissima' (BM).