''Taxus ''×'' media'', sometimes known simply as ''Taxus media'', is a

conifer 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 ext ...

(more specifically, a

yew 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'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

) created by the hybridization of English 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 ...

'' and 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 ...

''. This hybridization is thought to have been performed by the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

-based

horticulturalist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

T.D. Hatfield in the early 1900s.University of Connecticut Horticulture: Taxus Media
/ref> ''

Taxonomy and common naming

Taxus × media is available in a large number of shrubby, often wide-spreading, cultivars under a variety of names.

Description

Like most

species, ''T. ''×'' media'' prefers well-drained and well-watered soils, but has some degree of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

tolerance and in fact may die in conditions of excessive precipitation if the soil beneath the plant is not sufficiently well-drained. ''Taxus ''×'' media'' is among the smallest

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Taxus'' and (depending upon

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

) may not even grow to the size of what one would consider a typical tree. Immature shrubs are very small and achieve (over the time span of ten to twenty years) heights of at most and diameters of at most , depending on the cultivar. Furthermore, ''T. ''×'' media'' is known to grow rather slowly and is not injured by frequent pruning, making this hybrid very desirable as a

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoi ...

in low-maintenance

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

and also a good candidate for

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of '' penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produc ...

Toxicity

''Taxus ''×'' media'' also shares with its fellow yew trees a high level of

taxine Taxine alkaloids, which are often named under the collective title of taxines, are the toxic chemicals that can be isolated from the yew tree. The amount of taxine alkaloids depends on the species of yew, with ''Taxus baccata'' and '' Taxus cusp ...

in its branches, needles, and seeds.

Taxine Taxine alkaloids, which are often named under the collective title of taxines, are the toxic chemicals that can be isolated from the yew tree. The amount of taxine alkaloids depends on the species of yew, with ''Taxus baccata'' and '' Taxus cusp ...

is toxic to the

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

ian

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

Varieties (cultivars)

* ''Taxus ''×'' media'' var. ''hicksii'' (also known by the common name ''Hicks's yew'' or alternately, ''Hicks yew'') is a common

of this hybrid, and is the tallest and thinnest variety of ''T. ''×'' media'', limiting itself to a diameter, despite the fact it can achieve a height of close to .University of Illinois - Selecting Shrubs for Your Home
/ref> * Another commonly-planted cultivar of ''T. ''×'' media'' is the broader-spreading ''densiformis'' version, which can reach a diameter exceeding 10 feet; nonetheless, this cultivar does not grow much past in height. * Another cultivar of ''T. × media'' is the ''Kelseyi'' version (known as the ''Kelsey yew''), with a height of at maturity, and a spread of . It is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a low canopy about 1 foot from the ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taxus media

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

Medicinal plants Plant nothospecies Trees of humid continental climate Hybrid plants Ornamental trees Least concern plants Plants used in bonsai