Taxus baccata L.

Taxaceae

LOCAL NAMES
English (Himalayan yew,english yew,commomn yew,Bhutanese yew);
French (if commun); German (eibe,beeren-eibe); Italian (tasso,libo,albero
della morte); Nepali (dhengra salla,barme sale); Spanish (tejo)

BOTANIC DESCRIPTION
Taxus baccata is an evergreen, under-storey tree to 30 m tall, with a
spreading crown. It tends to be forked, fluted with depressions at branch-
stem junctions. Branches are ascending to drooping with twigs irregularly
alternate, green or yellow-green when young, reddish brown with age. The Leaves and fruits (Arnoldo Mondadori
bark is reddish-grey or reddish brown, thin, smooth, peeling off in Editore SpA)
longitudinal narrow shreds.

Leaves in to 2 rows, needle-like, 1.5-2.8 by 0.2-0.25 cm, usually curved,

acuminate. Margins, slightly inrolled, dark-green and shining above,
brownish-yellow and somewhat pale beneath, single nerved and
narrowing into a short petiole.

Flower inconspicuous, yellowish with female blooms on small flaky

handles.

Seed hard, surrounded by a red fleshy aril, looking like a berry, about 7 Fruits (Gil Wojciech, Polish Forest Research
Institute, www.forestryimages.org)
mm in diameter.

BIOLOGY
Flowering occurs from March to May and seeds ripen between August and
November of the same year. Seeds require shelter and moist shady areas
for germination and do not survive in open areas.

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Taxus baccata L.
Taxaceae

ECOLOGY
Yew’s habitat is characterized by moist, mixed coniferous forests or cool, broad-leaved forests. It is particularly
characterized of Abies spectabilis forest, especially on limestone, but found associated with Picea smithiana, Tsuga
dumosa, Pinus wallichiana and Quercus semecarpifolia, particularly at higher altitudes.

BIOPHYSICAL LIMITS
Altitude: 100-4400 m
Mean annual temperature: 8-21ºC
Mean annual rainfall: 500-2900 mm
Soil type: It grows in a range of soil types from light to heavy acidic shallow soils.

DOCUMENTED SPECIES DISTRIBUTION

Native: Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegowina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia,
Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala,
Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Republic of, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Norway,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan,
Province of China, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam
Exotic:

Native range

Exotic range

The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither
suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country,
nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since
some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to
your planting site.

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 The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither
suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country,
nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since
Taxus baccata L.
some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to
your planting site. Taxaceae

PRODUCTS
Food: The red aril surrounding the seed can be eaten. In India, local people use the bark as a tea substitute.

Fodder: In parts of western Himalayas, the trees are lopped for cattle fodder.

Timber: The wood is hard, fine, even-grained and moderately heavy (about 700 kg per m). The timber is very valuable
and is known for its resistance against rooting. It is used mainly for turnery, marquetry and wood carvery. The colorful
wood (red heartwood, white sapwood) was used to veneer furniture, to make lute bodies, bowls, tankards, combs, tool
handles, pegs, and various art objects. In the UK, yew veneers is in high demand for its decorative value. In India it is
used for carrying poles, bows and furniture.

Poison: Leaves are poisonous to cattle. The foliage and seeds contain several alkaloids (taxine) and glucoside
(taxicatine), very poisonous, which alters to hydrotaxine by hydrolysis. In Europe, poisoning is frequent in animals such
as horses, asses and mules which are extremely sensitive while rabbits, guinea-pigs and cats are insensitive. In
humans, the yew generates digestive, nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, which can result in death.

Medicine: The arilles, removed from their seeds, have diuretic and laxative effects. It was used medicinally to treat viper
bites, hydrophobia (rabies), heart ailments and as an abortifascient. It is known to contain the anti-cancer drug taxol, but
has not been widely exploited in this connection.

SERVICES
Ornamental: Currently, its principal use is as an ornamental plant in gardens and cemeteries

Boundary or barrier or support: Yew is a very useful tree for hedging and topiary as it can be closely trimmed. It tends to
become a very large bush without trimming. It is used as a windbreak.

Other services: The green twigs are used to decorate houses in Nepal during religious festivals.

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Taxus baccata L.
Taxaceae

TREE MANAGEMENT
Stand establishment is through using plants and natural regeneration. The species is termite resistant and tolerates
shade. It has ability to produce suckers. The mean diameter increment of naturally growing trees ranges from 1-4 mm
annually.

GERMPLASM MANAGEMENT
The seed storage behaviour is orthodox. There are about 8000 seeds/kg.

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Taxus baccata L.
Taxaceae

FURTHER READNG
Assadi M, Khatamsaz M, Mozaffarian V, Maassoumi AA. 1998. Flora of Iran: nos. 19-22: Pinaceae, Taxaceae,
Cupressaceae and Ephedraceae. Tehran, Iran; Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, 58 pp.
Campbell MW. 1983. Plant propagation for reforestation in Nepal. Technical Note No 1/83, Nepal –Australia Forestry
Project, Kathmandu.
Cope EA. 1998. Taxaceae: the genera and cultivated species. Botanical Review. 64(4): 291-322.
Harsh Mitter, Anil Sharma. 1999. Propagation of Taxus baccata Linn. by stem cuttings. Indian Forester. 125(2): 159-162.
Jackson JK. 1987. Manual of afforestation in Nepal. Department of Forestry, Kathmandu.
Lamichhaney BP and Joshi RB. 1980. Distribution seeding and method of propagation of forest trees of Nepal. Forest
survey and Research Office Publication No. 3.
Mitchell AF, Hallett VE, and White JEJ. 1990. Champion trees in the British Isles. Forestry Commission Field Book 10.
Osthoff H. 1997. Taxus baccata L. - yew: an interesting supplier of natural products. Zeitschrift fur Arznei and
Gewurzpflanzen. 2(1): 48-50.
Ravindra Sharma. 1999. Taxus baccata. MFP News. 9(1): 17-18.
Vidakovic M. 1991. Conifers: morphology and variation. Available exclusively from CAB International, Wallingford,
Oxon, UK. 755 pp.
Voliotis D. 1986. Historical and environmental significance of the yew (Taxus baccata L.). Israel Journal of Botany.
35(1): 47-52.

SUGGESTED CITATION
Orwa C, A Mutua, Kindt R , Jamnadass R, S Anthony. 2009 Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide
version 4.0 (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sites/treedbs/treedatabases.asp)

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