Taxus
Taxus baccata (European Yew) shoot with mature and immature cones
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Taxaceae Genus: Taxus L.
Species
Taxus baccata - European Yew Taxus brevifolia - Pacific (or Western) Yew Taxus canadensis - Canadian Yew Taxus chinensis - Chinese Yew Taxus cuspidata - Japanese Yew Taxus floridana - Florida Yew Taxus globosa - Mexican Yew Taxus kingstonii Taxus sumatrana - Sumatran Yew Taxus wallichiana - Himalayan Yew Yew leaves, and mature and immature cones - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... Genera Taxaceae sensu stricto Taxus Pseudotaxus Austrotaxus — Cephalotaxaceae Torreya Amentotaxus Cephalotaxus The family Taxaceae, commonly called the yew family, includes three genera and about 7 to 12 species of coniferous plants, or in other interpretations (see Classification, below), six genera and about 30 species. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Binomial name L. Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. ... Binomial name Taxus brevifolia Nutt. ... Binomial name Taxus canadensis Marsh. ... Binomial name (Pilger) Rehd. ... Binomial name Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc. ... Binomial name Taxus floridana (Pilger) Rehd. ... Binomial name (Pilger) Rehd. ... Binomial name (Pilger) Rehd. ... Binomial name Taxus wallichiana Zucc. ...

Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m. They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, dark-green leaves 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. For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... A broom shrub in flower A shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 6 m tall. ... Genera Taxaceae sensu stricto Taxus Pseudotaxus Austrotaxus — Cephalotaxaceae Torreya Amentotaxus Cephalotaxus The family Taxaceae, commonly called the yew family, includes three genera and about 7 to 12 species of coniferous plants, or in other interpretations (see Classification, below), six genera and about 30 species. ... For other uses, see Bark (disambiguation). ... Look up foliage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

European Yew cone (detail)

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, 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. Yews are mostly dioecious, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time. Yew cone (detail, enlarged) - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Yew cone (detail, enlarged) - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Mature female European Black Pine cone Male cones of a pine A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... This article is about the fruit. ... Mature and immature arils of Taxus baccata, a European yew. ... Genera 22 genera, see text The Thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World. ... Species B. garrulus B. cedrorum The waxwings are a group of passerine birds characterised by soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Close-up of an Echinopsis spachiana flower, showing both carpels and stamen, making it a complete flower. ... Close-up of an Echinopsis spachiana flower, showing both carpels and stamen, making it a complete flower. ...

All of the yews are very closely related to each other, and some botanists treat them all as subspecies or varieties of just one widespread species; under this treatment, the species name used is Taxus baccata, the first yew described scientifically.

Foliage of Mexican Yew

The most distinct is the Sumatran Yew (T. sumatrana, native from Sumatra and Celebes north to southernmost China), distinguished by its sparse, sickle-shaped yellow-green leaves. The Mexican Yew (T. globosa, native to eastern Mexico south to Honduras) is also relatively distinct with foliage intermediate between Sumatran Yew and the other species. The Florida Yew, Mexican Yew and Pacific Yew are all rare species listed as threatened or endangered. Mexican Yew foliage - photo User:MPF. Northeast slopes of Cerro Peña Nevada, Nuevo León, Mexico. ... Mexican Yew foliage - photo User:MPF. Northeast slopes of Cerro Peña Nevada, Nuevo León, Mexico. ... For other uses, see Sumatra (disambiguation). ... Map of Sulawesi pictures by Julianto Halim Sulawesi (or Celebes) is a large Indonesian island. ...

All species of yew contain highly poisonous alkaloids known as taxanes, with some variation in the exact formula of the alkaloid between the species. All parts of the tree except the arils contain the alkaloid. The arils are edible and sweet, but the seed is dangerously poisonous; unlike birds, the human stomach can break down the seed coat and release the taxanes into the body. This can have fatal results if yew 'berries' are eaten without removing the seeds first. Grazing animals, particularly cattle and horses, are also sometimes found dead near yew trees after eating the leaves, though deer are able to break down the poisons and will eat yew foliage freely. In the wild, deer browsing of yews is often so extensive that wild yew trees are commonly restricted to cliffs and other steep slopes inaccessible to deer. The foliage is also eaten by the larvae of some Lepidopteran insects including Willow Beauty. For other uses, see Poison (disambiguation). ... Chemical structure of ephedrine, a phenethylamine alkaloid An alkaloid is, strictly speaking, a naturally occurring amine produced by a plant,[1] but amines produced by animals and fungi are also called alkaloids. ... The taxanes are NOT alkaloids (not every molecule coming from a plant and bearing a nitrogen is an alkaloid!). They are diterpenes produced by the plants of the genus Taxus (yews). ... For other uses, see Poison (disambiguation). ... This article is about modern humans. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... This article is about the ruminent animal. ... A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... The order Lepidoptera is the second most speciose order in the class Insecta and includes the butterflies, moths and skippers. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... Binomial name Peribatodes rhomboidaria Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 The Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae. ...

Male cones of Taxus baccata

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1296x972, 259 KB) Male yew cones (Taxus baccata) Author: User:Velela. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1296x972, 259 KB) Male yew cones (Taxus baccata) Author: User:Velela. ...

Uses and traditions

Yew wood is reddish brown (with whiter sapwood), and is very springy. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the longbow. Ötzi, the Chalcolithic mummy found in 1991 in the Austrian alps, carried an unfinished longbow made of yew wood. Consequently, it is not surprising that, in Norse mythology, the god of the bow, Ullr's abode had the name Ydalir (Yew dales). Most longbow wood used in northern Europe was imported from Iberia, where climatic conditions are better for growing the knot-free yew wood required. The Eihwaz rune ᛇ is named after the yew, and sometimes also associated with the "evergreen" World tree, Yggdrasil. For other uses, see Wood (disambiguation). ... This article is about the projectile weapon bow. ... Lemonwood, purpleheart and hickory longbow, 45 lbf / 200 N draw force. ... Ötzi the Iceman (also spelled Oetzi and known also as Frozen Fritz) is the modern nickname of a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 3300 BC, found in 1991 in a glacier of the Ötztaler Alps, near the border between Austria and Italy. ... This article is about the corpse preparation method, for other uses of Mummy see Mummy (disambiguation) An Egyptian mummy kept in the Vatican Museums. ... Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute, shows Ullr on his skis and with his bow. ... In Norse mythology, Ydalir (Yew dales) was Ulls hall. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ... Eihwaz (or Eiwaz, Îgwaz) is the Proto-Germanic word for yew, and the reconstructed name of the rune ᛇ. Its is commonly transliterated as ei or ï. Its phonetic value at the time of the invention of the Futhark (2nd century) was not necessarily a diphtong, but possibly a vowel somewhere... A rune can mean a single character in the Runic alphabet as well as an inscription of several runic charcters or symbols. ... This article is about the religious motif. ... For other uses, see Yggdrasil (disambiguation). ...

Foliage of Irish Yew; note the leaves spreading all round the erect shoots

Yews are widely used in landscaping and ornamental horticulture. Over 400 cultivars of yews have been named, the vast majority of these being derived from European Yew, Japanese Yew and the hybrid between them (Taxus x media). The most popular of these are the "Irish Yew" (Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata'), a fastigiate cultivar of the European Yew, and the several variants with yellow leaves, collectively known as golden yew. A close up of English Yew leaves and arils. ... A close up of English Yew leaves and arils. ... Horticulture (Latin: hortus (garden plant) + cultura (culture)) are classically defined as the culture or growing of garden plants. ... This Osteospermum Pink Whirls is a successful cultivar. ...

The Pacific Yew Taxus brevifolia, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, and Canada Yew Taxus canadensis are the sources of paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug used in breast and lung cancer treatment and, more recently, in the production of the Taxus drug eluting stent by Boston Scientific. Over-harvesting of the Pacific Yew for this drug has resulted in it becoming an endangered species, though the drug is now produced semi-synthetically from cultivated yews, without the need to further endanger the wild populations. The more common Canada yew, Taxus canadensis, is also being successfully harvested in northern Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick, and has become another major source of paclitaxel. Other yew species contain similar compounds with similar biochemical activity. Docetaxel, an analogue of paclitaxel, is derived from the Taxus baccata. The Pacific Northwest from space The Pacific Northwest, abbreviated PNW, or PacNW is a region in the northwest of North America. ... North America North America is a continent [1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Paclitaxel is a drug used in the treatment of cancer. ... Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. ... Breast cancer is cancer of breast tissue. ... Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. ... An example of a drug-eluting stent. ... The Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) (abbreviated BSC), is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices whose products are used in a range of interventional medical specialties, including interventional cardiology, peripheral interventions, neuromodulation, neurovascular intervention, electrophysiology, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, endoscopy, oncology, urology and gynecology. ... The Siberian Tiger is a subspecies of tiger that are critically endangered. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 107 Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ... This article is about the Canadian province. ... Docetaxel chemical structure Docetaxel is a chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of cancer. ...

The yew tree can often be found in church graveyards and is symbolic of sadness. Such a representation appears in Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem "In Memoriam A.H.H." (2.61-64).

The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of T. S. Eliot, especially his Four Quartets. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. ... Four Quartets is the name given to four related poems by T. S. Eliot, collected and republished in book form in 1943. ...

oldest polish taxus baccata(1200 years) (detail)