Yew is a common name given to various species of trees.
It is most prominently given to any of various
coniferous
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...
trees and shrubs in the genus ''
Taxus'':
* European yew or common yew (''
Taxus baccata'')
* Pacific yew or western yew (''
Taxus brevifolia'')
* Canadian yew (''
Taxus canadensis
''Taxus canadensis'', the Canada yew or Canadian yew, is a conifer native to central and eastern North America, thriving in swampy woods, ravines, riverbanks and on lake shores. Locally called simply "yew", this species is also referred to as Am ...
'')
* Chinese yew (''
Taxus chinensis'')
* Japanese yew (''
Taxus cuspidata'')
* Florida yew (''
Taxus floridana'')
* Mexican yew (''
Taxus globosa
''Taxus globosa'', the Mexican yew, is an evergreen shrub and one of the eight species of yew. The Mexican yew is a rare species, only known to be found in a small number of locations in eastern Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officia ...
'')
* Sumatran yew (''
Taxus sumatrana
''Taxus sumatrana'' is an evergreen shrub and one of the eight species of the yew. It is found in a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, Sumatra, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Burma, Taiwan, and China, and is known both as t ...
'')
* Himalayan yew (''
Taxus wallichiana
''Taxus wallichiana'', the Himalayan yew, is a species of yew, native to the Himalaya and parts of south-east Asia. The species has a variety of uses in traditional medicine. It is currently classified as endangered by the IUCN.
Distribution an ...
'')
* ''
Taxus masonii
''Taxus masonii'' is an extinct species of conifer in the yew family, Taxaceae, solely known from the middle Eocene sediments exposed in north central Oregon. The species was first described from a series of isolated fossil seeds in chert.
His ...
'' (Eocene fossil yew)
It is also used for any of various coniferous plants in the families
Taxaceae and
Cephalotaxaceae
Cephalotaxaceae is a small grouping of conifers, that included one to three genera closely allied to Taxaceae. However, members of Cephalotaxaceae are now included in Taxaceae by botanists, instead of as a distinct family, based on phylogenetic ev ...
:
* White-berry yew (''
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 ...
chienii'')
* New Caledonian yew or southern yew (''
Austrotaxus
''Austrotaxus spicata'', the New Caledonia yew or southern yew, is a species of yew, the sole species in the genus ''Austrotaxus''. It is related to the other yews in the genera ''Taxus'' and ''Pseudotaxus''.
It is endemic to New Caledonia, occ ...
spicata'')
* Catkin-yew (''
Amentotaxus
''Amentotaxus'' is a genus of conifers (catkin-yews) comprising five species, treated in either the Cephalotaxaceae, or in the Taxaceae when that family is considered in a broad sense. The genus is endemic to subtropical Southeast Asia, from Ta ...
sp.'')
* Plum-yew (''
Cephalotaxus
''Cephalotaxus'', commonly called plum yew or cowtail pine, is a genus of conifers comprising 11 species, treated in either the Cephalotaxaceae, or in the Taxaceae when that family is considered in a broad sense. The genus is endemic to eastern A ...
sp.'')
Various coniferous plants in the family
Podocarpaceae, superficially similar to other yews, are also known by this name:
* Prince Albert's yew (''
Saxegothaea
''Saxegothaea'' is a genus comprising a single species, ''Saxegothaea conspicua''. It is a conifer in the podocarp family Podocarpaceae, native to southern South America. It grows in Chile and Argentina from 35° to 46° South latitude; in its nor ...
conspicua'')
* Plum-yew (''
Prumnopitys
''Prumnopitys'' is a genus of conifers belonging to the family Podocarpaceae. The nine recognized species of ''Prumnopitys'' are densely branched, dioecious evergreen trees up to 40 metres in height.
Etymology
The name ''Prumnopitys'' comes ...
sp.'')
{{Plant common name
Shrubs