TAXACEAE 

 The Yew Family 



The yews are trees and shrubs, evergreen in America and 

 ;imilar in aspect to the pines, having linear leaves and usually 

 )earing pistils and stamens in separate floral structures. The 

 nale flowers are globular, with a few stamens, the anthers of 

 vhich are arranged beneath a shieldlike, usually more or less 

 obed connecting plate, and the pistillate flowers bear one ovule 

 :ach, which develops into a bony-coated seed with a large, 

 leshy scale for cover. 



The family is represented in North America and in Illinois 

 )nly by the following native species. 



TAXUS CANADENSIS Marshall 



American Yew Canada Yew Ground Hemlock 



The American Yew, fig. 1, is a low and sprawling evergreen 

 isually less than 3 feet high, though occasionally it grows up- 

 ight to a height of nearly 5 feet. Its branches, which spread 

 I to 5 feet from the center of the plant, generally turn upward 





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FIG. 1 

 Taxus canadensis 



1 25 1 



