TAXACEAE 



Pacific Yew. Western Yew 



Taxus brevifolia Nutt. 



HABIT. A small tree or large shrub, 20-50 feet high and 

 1-2 feet in diameter; limby, often fluted or malformed trunks; 

 large, open, conical crown, with long, slender, drooping branches; 

 a sprawling shrub near timber line. 



LEAVES. Persistent 5-12 years; linear-lanceolate; spirally 

 arranged, appearing 2-ranked; V^-1 inch long; sharp-pointed; 

 petiolate; green above, paler beneath. 



FLOWERS. Dioecious, solitary, axillary, surrounded by 

 scales of bud; male in globose heads of 6-14 stamens, yellowish; 

 female single, greenish, the apical scale bearing a solitary erect 

 ovule with a basal disk. 



FRUIT. A single, erect, ovoid-oblong seed with a hard, bony 

 shell; Vi inch long; exposed at apex, but partially or entirely 

 surrounded by, but free from, the thickened, scarlet, fleshy aril- 

 like disk of the flower; maturing in one season. 



TWIGS. Slender, drooping. Winter buds: small, ovoid, 

 obtuse; of numerous overlapping scales. 



BARK. Very thin (Vi inch), scaly, dark red-purple, 



WOOD. Heavy, hard, strong; durable; heartwood bright 

 orange to rose-red; sapwood thin, yellow; used for bows, canoe 

 paddles, fence posts, and turned articles. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Most tolerant forest tree of 

 northwest; growth slow; maturity reached in 250-350 years; 

 reproduction scanty; deep, wide-speading roots; stumps sprout. 



HABITAT. Transition to Hudsonian zone; altitudinal range 

 from 2,000-8,000 feet; on deep, moist soils; in small groups or 

 as an occasional understory tree in mixed forests. 



* * * 



Florida Yew 



Taxus floridana Nutt. 



This is a rare, small, bushy tree found only along the bluffs 

 of the Apalachicola River in Florida. It diff'ers from Pacific 

 yew in having dark green, falcate needles, %-l inch long. 



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