Taxus Brevifolia (Yew)

January 20th, 2008

Botanical Name: Taxus baccata
Family: N.O. Taxaceae and Coniferae
Other Names:Taxus brevifolia, Pacific Yew or Western Yew
Poisonous Parts: Leaves, seed and fruit.
Habitat: Europe, North Africa, Western Asia.It is a conifer native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central California, mostly in the Pacific Coast Ranges, but with an isolated disjunct population in southeast British Columbia and south to central Idaho.

Description: It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, growing 10-15 m tall and with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter, rarely more. forming with age a very stout trunk covered with red-brown, peeling bark and topped with a rounded or wide-spreading head of branches; leaves spirally attached to twigs, but by twisting of the stalks brought more or less into two opposed ranks, dark, glossy, almost black-green above, grey, pale-green or yellowish beneath, 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches long, 1/16 to 1/12 inch wide. Flowers unisexual, with the sexes invariably on different trees, produced in spring from the leaf axils of the preceding summer’s twigs. Male, a globose cluster of stamens; female, an ovule surrounded by small bracts, the so-called fruit bright red, sometimes yellow, juicy and encloses the seed.

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It has thin scaly brown bark. The leaves are lanceolate, flat, dark green, 1-3 cm long and 2-3 mm broad, arranged spirally on the stem, but with the leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows either side of the stem except on erect leading shoots where the spiral arrangement is more obvious.

The seed cones are highly modified, each cone containing a single seed 4-7 mm long partly surrounded by a modified scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril, 8-15 mm long and wide and open at the end. The arils are mature 6-9 months after pollination, and with the seed contained are eaten by thrushes and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings; maturation of the arils is spread over 2-3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal. The male cones are globose, 3-6 mm diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is mostly dioecious, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time.

No tree is more associated with the history and legends of Great Britain than the Yew. Before Christianity was introduced it was a sacred tree favoured by the Druids, who built their temples near these trees - a custom followed by the early Christians. The association of the tree with places of worship still prevails.

Many cases of poisoning amongst cattle have resulted from eating parts of the Yew.

Click to read about The Yew ,Sacred Tree of Transformation and Rebirth

Constituents: The fruit and seeds seem to be the most poisonous parts of the tree. An alkaloid taxine has been obtained from the seeds; this is a poisonous, white, crystalline powder, only slightly soluble in water; another principle, Milossin, has also been found.

General Uses: The wood was formerly much valued in archery for the making of long bows. The wood is said to resist the action of water and is very hard, and, before the use of iron became general, was greatly valued.

Medicinal Uses: (In homoeopathy a tincture of the young shoots and also of the berries is used in a variety of diseases: cystitis, eruptions, headache and neuralgia, affections of the heart and kidneys, dimness of vision, and gout and rheurmatism. - EDITOR) .

The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, used in breast, ovarian and lung cancer treatment, is derived from Taxus brevifolia. Over-harvesting for production of this drug has resulted in the Pacific Yew becoming a rare species, despite the fact the drug can be produced semi-synthetically from cultivated yews. Pharmaceutical use of closely-related wild yew species in India and China threatens some of those species as well.

Click to read Taxol, an Anticancer Drug, is found in the Pacific Yew tree

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to c

Yew may refer to various other species, click to read about them:
Any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Taxus:
European Yew or Common Yew (Taxus baccata)
Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis)
Chinese Yew (Taxus chinensis)
Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata)
Florida Yew (Taxus floridana)
Mexican Yew (Taxus globosa)
Sumatran Yew (Taxus sumatrana)
Himalayan Yew (Taxus wallichiana)
Any of various coniferous plants in the families Taxaceae and Cephalotaxaceae:
White-berry Yew (Pseudotaxus chienii)
New Caledonian Yew or Southern Yew (Austrotaxus spicata)
Catkin-yew (Amentotaxus sp.)
Plum-yew (Cephalotaxus sp.)
Any of the various coniferous plants in the family Podocarpaceae which are superficially similar to other yews:
Prince Albert’s Yew (Saxegothaea conspicua)
Plum-yew (Prumnopitys sp.)