Western Yew
Taxus brevifolia
zones 4-6
25 seeds
Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) is also known as Pacific Yew. It is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. This slow-growing evergreen tree commonly reaches 20-40 feet. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central California, mostly in the Pacific Coast Ranges, but with isolated disjunctive populations in southeast British Columbia and in north to central Idaho.
Traditionally, the wood was used by Native Americans to make bows and paddles for canoes, in addition to many other items for daily life.
While many parts of yews are poisonous and can be fatal if eaten, the juicy red cup around the seed is edible if the seed within is not chewed or swallowed. Birds eat such cups and spread the seeds.
The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (taxol), used in breast, ovarian, and lung cancer treatment, can be derived from Taxus brevifolia and other species of yew. As it was already becoming scarce when its chemotherapeutic potential was realized, the Pacific Yew was never commercially harvested from its habitat at a large scale; the widespread use of the drug paclitaxel (taxol) was enabled when a semi-synthetic pathway was developed from extracts of cultivated yews of other species.
Germination is slow. The seeds require 5 month cold moist stratification followed by 5 months of warm stratification. If the seeds are planted directly into outdoor cold frames in the autumn in the correct zone, the stratification process can be eliminated.
Germination occurs the following year after sowing.
Taxus brevifolia
zones 4-6
25 seeds
Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) is also known as Pacific Yew. It is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. This slow-growing evergreen tree commonly reaches 20-40 feet. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central California, mostly in the Pacific Coast Ranges, but with isolated disjunctive populations in southeast British Columbia and in north to central Idaho.
Traditionally, the wood was used by Native Americans to make bows and paddles for canoes, in addition to many other items for daily life.
While many parts of yews are poisonous and can be fatal if eaten, the juicy red cup around the seed is edible if the seed within is not chewed or swallowed. Birds eat such cups and spread the seeds.
The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (taxol), used in breast, ovarian, and lung cancer treatment, can be derived from Taxus brevifolia and other species of yew. As it was already becoming scarce when its chemotherapeutic potential was realized, the Pacific Yew was never commercially harvested from its habitat at a large scale; the widespread use of the drug paclitaxel (taxol) was enabled when a semi-synthetic pathway was developed from extracts of cultivated yews of other species.
Germination is slow. The seeds require 5 month cold moist stratification followed by 5 months of warm stratification. If the seeds are planted directly into outdoor cold frames in the autumn in the correct zone, the stratification process can be eliminated.
Germination occurs the following year after sowing.
Taxus brevifolia
zones 4-6
25 seeds
Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) is also known as Pacific Yew. It is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. This slow-growing evergreen tree commonly reaches 20-40 feet. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central California, mostly in the Pacific Coast Ranges, but with isolated disjunctive populations in southeast British Columbia and in north to central Idaho.
Traditionally, the wood was used by Native Americans to make bows and paddles for canoes, in addition to many other items for daily life.
While many parts of yews are poisonous and can be fatal if eaten, the juicy red cup around the seed is edible if the seed within is not chewed or swallowed. Birds eat such cups and spread the seeds.
The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (taxol), used in breast, ovarian, and lung cancer treatment, can be derived from Taxus brevifolia and other species of yew. As it was already becoming scarce when its chemotherapeutic potential was realized, the Pacific Yew was never commercially harvested from its habitat at a large scale; the widespread use of the drug paclitaxel (taxol) was enabled when a semi-synthetic pathway was developed from extracts of cultivated yews of other species.
Germination is slow. The seeds require 5 month cold moist stratification followed by 5 months of warm stratification. If the seeds are planted directly into outdoor cold frames in the autumn in the correct zone, the stratification process can be eliminated.
Germination occurs the following year after sowing.