Yews have dark-green colored, rather soft, evergreen, needle-like leaves. Yews usually have separate male and female plants, although sometimes these flowers will develop on separate branches of the same plant. The male flowers are small and inconspicuous, and develop as globular bodies in leaf axils. The female flowers of yews develop in the springtime, and they occur singly and naked in the axis…
Three species of yew grow naturally in North America. The Pacific or western yew (Taxus brevifolia) is the only species that reaches the size of a small tree, typically 19-39 ft (6-12 m) tall, but as tall as 75 ft (23 m). The western yew is a species of the sub-canopy of conifer rain forests of the Pacific coast, ranging from central California to southern Alaska. The species also occurs on the re…
Yew wood is very tough and elastic, a consequence of the structural qualities of its elongated, water-conducting cells known as tracheids. The wood of yews is of minor commercial importance. However, it is prized for certain uses in which strength and flexibility are required. During medieval times in western Europe, the wood of European yew trees was favored for the manufacture of bows. Today, bo…
Yews have widely been recognized as toxic to livestock and humans. In smaller doses, yew has been used as a minor folk medicine in some parts of its range. Example of the medicinal uses of yews include the induction of menstruation, and the treatment of arthritis, kidney disease, scurvy, tuberculosis, and other ailments. However, in recent years, yews have become famous for their use in the treatm…
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