The Yew of Count Pucci

The 450 centimetres in this yew's register entry is not a trunk. The tree has thrown up a ring of shoots from the base of the mother plant, so a tape at chest height goes around a cluster rather than a stem, which is why the sources that record the figure call it insignificant as a measurement. Nobody has dated the tree either. The only evidence is photographic: pictures from the early 1900s already show a yew of this size on this terrace, so it was a substantial old tree before the First World War, and that is where the record stops. It sits in a raised garden above Via Borgo Aretino, inside the walls near Porta Santa Chiara, a few minutes downhill from Piazza del Comune, and stands 12.5 metres of dark evergreen over a street that has carried pilgrims for eight centuries. The name belongs to the Pucci family, whose house adjoined the garden; the spot is still known locally as the Portella dei Pucci. Italy's national register lists it under three criteria at once, age and size, form and bearing, and landscape value. Yews hollow out from the inside as they age, which defeats ring counting. You can see this one from the street. Whether the garden is open to walk into we have not been able to confirm, so plan on the pavement. If you know either answer, tell us.