Yew
| Taxus, Yew | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| Species | ||||||||||||
| T. baccata (European yew) T. brevifolia (Pacific yew) T. canadensis T. cuspidata (Japanese yew) T. floridana (Florida yew) T. globosa (Mexican yew) T. mairei T. sumatrana T. wallichiana (Himalayan yew) |
Yews are small coniferous trees or shrubs in the Family Taxaceae. Yews belong to the Genus Taxus.
Yews are extremely slow growing, but widely used in landscaping and ornamental horticulture. The yew has flat, dark-green needles, reddish bark, and bears seeds with red arils, which in Canada are eaten by cedar waxwings and other birds. Yew wood is white, flexible, and tough, and was traditionally used to make bows, especially the English longbow.
A species of yew native to the Pacific Northwest in the United States, the Pacific Yew (Taxus pacificus), is the source of taxol, a drug with apparent anti-cancer activity.
In England, the English Yew (Taxus baccata) is often found in churchyards, as a symbol of long life or trees of death, and some are known to be 2000 years old. An aternative explanation is that the poisonous berries and foliage discourage farmers and drovers from letting their animals wander into the burial grounds.
A close-up view of the leaves and arils of an English Yew
All species of yew contain the alkaloid taxine, which comes in several varieties indicated by letters. All parts of the tree except the arils contain dangerously toxic amounts of the alkaloid. When injested, the toxins work so quickly that the victim simply gasps and then drops dead from heart failure. Children sometimes eat the arils, but they are fortunately the least toxic part. Grazing animals are sometimes found dead near yew trees.
