[[File:Taxus brevifolia Blue Mts WA.jpg|thumb|right|''Taxus brevifolia'']]
'''Taxus brevifolia''' is a conifer native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central California, mostly in the Pacific Coast Ranges, but with isolated disjunct populations in southeast British Columbia in north to central Idaho.
==Uses==
{{Uses|Diphtheria}}, {{Uses|Tapeworms,}}, {{Uses|Swollen tonsils}}, {{Uses|Seizures}}, {{Uses|Muscle and joint pain}}, {{Uses|Urinary tract conditions}}, {{Uses|Liver problems}}, {{Uses|Breast cancer}}, {{Uses|Ovarian cancer}}.
==Parts Used==
{{Parts Used|Fruits}}, {{Parts Used|Seeds}}.
Taxus brevifolia <ref name="Taxus brevifolia" />, the =Chemical Composition==The Pacific yew or western yewis poisonous because it contains at least 11 alkaloids, known collectively as taxines. The structure of only two of the alkaloid constituents is a conifer native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It ranges from southernmost Alaska south to central Californiaknown: taxine A, which accounts for 30%, mostly in the Pacific Coast Rangesand taxine B, which accounts for 2%. Paclitaxel (Figure 128-1) is a pseudoalkaloid but not a constituent of taxine because its nitrogen is acylated with isolated disjunct populations in southeast British Columbia (most notably occurring on Zuckerberg Island near Castlegar) benzoic acid and in north to central Idahohas no basic principle.<ref name="chemical composition"/>
==Common names==
{{Common names|kn=|ml=|sa=Manduparni|ta=|te=|hi=Gallu, Thuno|en=Himalayan Yew}}
== Characteristics Properties==Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.===Dravya===
The Pacific yew is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree===Rasa===Tikta (Bitter), growing 10–15 m tall and with a trunk up to 50 cm diameterKashaya (Astringent)===Guna===Laghu (Light), rarely more. In some instancesRuksha (Dry), trees with heights in excess of 20 m occur in parks and other protected areasTikshna (Sharp)===Veerya===Ushna (Hot)===Vipaka===Katu (Pungent)===Karma===Kapha, quite often in gullies. The tree is extremely slow growing, and has a habit of rotting from the inside, creating hollow forms. This makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to make accurate rings counts to determine a specimen's true age. Often damaged by succession of the forest, it usually ends up in a squat, multiple leader form.Vata===Prabhava===
It has thin scaly brown bark, covering a thin layer of off-white sap wood with a darker heartwood that varies in color from brown to a magenta/purplish hue. The leaves are lanceolate, flat, dark green, 1–3 cm long and 2–3 mm broad, arranged spirally on the stem, but with the leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows either side of the stem except on erect leading shoots where the spiral arrangement is more obvious.==Habit=={{Habit|Evergreen tree}}
The seed cones are highly modified==Identification=====Leaf==={{Leaf|Simple|Alternate|Evergreen needles, each cone containing a single seed 4–7 mm long partly surrounded by a modified scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril, 8–15 mm long and wide and open at the end. The arils are mature 6–9 months after pollination. The seeds contained in the arils are eaten by thrushes and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings; maturation of the arils is spread over 2–3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal. The male cones are globose, 3–6 mm diameter, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is mostly dioecious, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time.spirally arranged}}<ref name="Leaf"/>
===Flower===
{{Flower|Unisexual|2-4cm long|Yellow|5-20|Species is dioecious; male flowers are small, round, and yellow and are borne on the undersides of the leaves}}
== Uses =Fruit==={{Fruit|round|1/4 inch long|clearly grooved lengthwise, Lowest hooked hairs aligned towards crown|fleshy, orange-red|hard seed}}
Traditionally, the wood was used by Native Americans to make bows and paddles for canoes, in addition many other items from daily life. The Japanese have also used the wood for decorative purposes.===Other features===
Members ==List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the Pit River Tribe would sell this plant to the Ukiah.herb is used==
The Concow tribe calls ==Where to get the tree yōl’-kō (Konkow language)saplings====Mode of Propagation=={{Propagation|Seeds}}.
==How to plant/cultivate==
Thrives in almost any soil, acid or alkaline, as long as it is well-drained.<ref name="How to plant/cultivate"/>
==Season to grow==
== Medicinal uses ==
The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel ==Soil type required==Suitable for light (taxolsandy), used in breast, ovarian, medium (loamy) and lung cancer treatment, is derived from Taxus brevifolia. 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 paclitaxel heavy (taxolclay) was enabled when a semisoils and prefers well-synthetic pathway was developed from extracts of cultivated yews of other species. Unlicensed pharmaceutical production use of closely related wild yew species in India and China may be threatening some of those speciesdrained soil.<ref name="Soil type required"/>
==Common Ecosystem/Climate==Ponderosa pine, Western white pine, Fir - spruce, Hemlock - Sitka spruce, Larch, Redwood.<ref name=="Ecosystem"/>
* '''English''' - Pacific yew==Commonly seen growing in areas=={{Commonly seen|Banks of mountain streams}}, {{Commonly seen|Deep gorges and ravines}}, {{Commonly seen|Borders of forests}}.
==Photo Gallery==<gallery class="left" caption="" widths="140px" heights="140px">Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew) - Flickr - brewbooks (1).jpg Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew) - Flickr - brewbooks (2).jpgPacific yew.jpgPacificYew 7591.jpg</gallery> == References ==<references><ref name="chemical composition">[https://clinicalgate.com/taxus-brevifolia-pacific-yew/ Chemical constituents]</ref><ref name="Leaf">[http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=259 Plant decsription]</ref><ref name="How to plant/cultivate">[https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Taxus +brevifoliaCultivation details]</ref><ref name="Ecosystem">[httphttps://rht777www.wixsitefs.comfed.us/database/22777feis/medicinal-plants-iv /tree/taxbre/all.html Climate required]</ref> <ref name="wixsiteSoil type required">[https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Taxus+brevifolia#:~:text=Suitable%20for%3A%20light%20(sandy),prefers%20dry%20or%20moist%20soil. Soil type required]</ref>
</references>
==External Links==
* [http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/herbs/t/taxus-brevifolia=pacific-yew.php Taxus brevifolia on Naturalmedicinalherbs.net]
* [http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2011/roberts_cass/Medical%20Uses.htm Taxus brevifolia on Bioweb.uwlax.education]
* [https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-802/yew Taxus brevifolia on web md.com]
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4142453/ Ethnomedical Properties of Taxus Wallichiana Zucc]
== External Links ==
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_brevifolia "wikipedia"]
[[Category:Herbs]]
[[Category:Taxaceae]]
