Yew Trees Wye Kent Geograph-3466543-by-Stephen-Craven.jpg

Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''

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 ...

'': * European yew or common yew (''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''

Taxus brevifolia ''Taxus brevifolia'', the Pacific yew or western yew, is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It is a small evergreen conifer, thriving in moisture and otherwise tending to take the form ...

'') * 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 ...

'') * Chinese yew (''

Taxus chinensis ''Taxus chinensis'' is a species of yew. It is commonly called the Chinese yew, though this term also refers to '' Taxus celebica'' or ''Taxus sumatrana''. This plant is used to produce medicines for cancer treatment, including Paclitaxel and T ...

'') * Japanese yew (''

Taxus cuspidata ''Taxus cuspidata'', the Japanese yew or spreading yew, is a member of the genus ''Taxus'', native to Japan, Korea, northeast China and the extreme southeast of Russia. It is an evergreen tree or large shrub growing to 10–18 m tall, with a tru ...

'') * Florida yew (''

Taxus floridana ''Taxus floridana'', the Florida yew, is a species of yew, endemic to a small area of under 10 km² on the eastern side of the Apalachicola River in mesophytic forests of northern Florida at altitudes of 15–40 m. It is listed as criticall ...

'') * 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 a ...

'') * 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 a ...

'') * ''

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. H ...

'' (Eocene fossil yew) It is also used for any of various coniferous plants in the families

Taxaceae Taxaceae (), commonly called the yew family, is a coniferous family which includes six extant and two extinct genera, and about 30 species of plants, or in older interpretations three genera and 7 to 12 species. Description They are many-bran ...

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, o ...

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 ...

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 ...

sp.'') Various coniferous plants in the family

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

, 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 no ...

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