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Natural History (Book XVI, Ch. 33) the cypress is spoken of as being clipped and trimmed to form hedges or lengthened out in various designs for ornamental purposes. In Book XV he tells us that a shrub called _taxa_ is also used in ornamental gardening, from which we might conclude that the yew (_taxus_) was intended. From the description in the context, however, it is more likely that Pliny was speaking of a plant something like our