In Great Britain the Yew is one of the most celebrated of trees, the one
that is generally consecrated to burial-grounds, and that most
frequently overshadows the graves of the dead. It is a tree of second
magnitude, and remarkable for its longevity. The American Yew is seldom
anything more than a prostrate shrub, resembling branches of fir
spreading over the ground. It is said, however, that although it is a
creeping shrub on the Atlantic coast, it becomes a tree on the coast of
the Pacific; in like manner the alder, which is a shrub here, becomes a
tree in Oregon and California.
In New England, the Yew is a solitary tree, growing among deciduous
trees as if it required their protection. It never constitutes a forest
either here or in Europe. It seems to love the shade, and when it is not
under the protection of trees, it is found on the shady sides of hills,
and in moist, clayey soils, but never on sandy plains. I shall not speak
of the romantic customs associated with the European Yew; but the
absence of this tree deprives us of a very romantic feature in
landscape.