English Yew (Taxus baccata)
October 12, 2007 — Vasant M. SalianEnglish Yew (Taxus baccata) is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, north west Africa, northern Iran and south west Asia. It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, growing 10-20 m tall, exceptionally up to 28 m. It is relatively slow growing, but can be very long-lived, with the maximum recorded trunk diameter of 4 m probably only being reached in circa 2,000-4,000 years. It has thin scaly brown bark. The leaves are lanceolate, flat, dark green, 1-4 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.
he 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, waxwings 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.
All parts of the tree are highly toxic—except the bright red aril surrounding the seed, enabling ingestion and dispersal by birds—due to cyanide and the toxic alkaloid taxine. The plant remains toxic, even when wilted or dried.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Pinophyta
Class : Pinopsida
Order : Pinales
Family : Taxaceae
Genus : Taxus
Species : Taxus baccata
Pronunciation/Meaning:
- Taxus (TAKS-us) - An old name for Yew.
- baccata (BAK-ah-tuh) - With berry-like fruit.
Common Names:
- English Yew, Common Yew, European Yew.
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