''Austrotaxus spicata'', the New Caledonia yew or southern yew, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of yew, the sole species in the genus ''Austrotaxus''. It is related to the other yews in the genera ''

Taxus ''Taxus'' is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of , with trunk girth averaging . They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, ...

'' and ''

Pseudotaxus ''Pseudotaxus chienii'', the whiteberry yewThomas, P. & Yang, Y. 2013''Pseudotaxus chienii''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. Downloaded on 04 September 2015. (), is a species of plant in the yew family, Taxaceae. It is th ...

''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, occurring in the central and northern parts of the island at 300-1,350 m altitude. It is a

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

Gymnosperm Database: ''Austrotaxus''
/ref> coniferous

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

, reaching 5–20 m (rarely 25 m) tall with reddish bark. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are lanceolate, flat, 8–12 cm long (up to 17 cm on young plants) and 4 mm broad, dark green above, with two paler green stomatal bands below; they are arranged spirally on the stem. The

seed cones A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers an ...

are

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

-like, 20–25 mm long, with a fleshy

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

almost completely surrounding the single

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

, but with the tip of the seed exposed. The male (pollen) cones are 10–15 mm long, slender. The markedly longer leaves and large seeds readily distinguish it from the yews in the genus ''Taxus''.

References and external links

* Price, R. A. (2003). Generic and familial relationships of the Taxaceae from ''rbc''L and ''mat''K sequence comparisons. ''Acta Hort.'' 615: 235-237. {{Taxonbar, from=Q135354 Taxaceae Monotypic conifer genera Endemic flora of New Caledonia Dioecious plants Taxa named by Robert Harold Compton