PNW Native
Ranges from Southern Alaska to central California. (G)
Pacific yew is a shaggy, short diecious conifer that grows up to 50 ft tall. It either grows as a tall shrub or small tree. Needles are flattened, pointed at the tips, and arranged in two-rowed sprays connected by a central twig. The top sides of needles are green and the bottoms are duller and stomata-lined. The bark peels off in layers and has a scaly, red-brown appearance. Male and female cones are on separate trees, and the female cones are red berry-like arils with a single, highly toxic seed in their center. (DM)
Pacific yew prefers wet, shady environments with good drainage at low to middle elevations, frequently in Douglas-fir, red-cedar, and western hemlock forests. Having an understorey rich with Pacific yew is a sign of a healthy, old-growth forest. The fleshy berrylike arils are eaten by birds, and the toxic seeds are excreted without being digested. (PM) Due to the dioicous nature of the tree, Pacific yew often has struggle reproducing if there is not a tree of the opposite sex nearby. There are also concerns regarding the impact of overharvesting on the slow-growing Pacific yew from the days when Taxol, a potent anticancer drug, could only be produced from yew bark. (LC)
Sea lion clubs, deer trap springs, combs, spoons, bowls, digging sticks, drum frames, (DM) mat sewing needles, awls, dip-net frames, knives, dowels, boxes, pegs, bark scrapers, fire tongs, (PM) shields, armor, fishhooks, netting shuttles, pegs, paddles, snowshoe frames, tool handles, spear shafts, splitting wedges, gambling discs, blanket pins, fishing implements, mallets, bows, and arrows were all made out of yew by Northwest Coast People. Trees were partially harvested live through removal of rectangular bark strips, wood cut from standing trees, woody branches; not enough to kill the tree. Wood traded from coast into interior people. Harvesting live from Pacific yew was called “begging from” the tree by Kwakwaka’wakw, Halkomelem, and other Northwest Coast languages. Pacific yew had the name “bow tree” in Haida, Halkomelem, and Stl’atl’imx, as well as “wedge plant” in Sechelt, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Squamish. Small amounts of branch-bark tea were drunk in cases of cancer or stomach ulcers. (Turner)
The Okanogan made red paint from ground wood and fish oil. Swinomish men would rub yew branches against their limbs, (DM) believing that the plant would transfer over its strength and flexibility. Haida believed women who ate yew berries would be rendered infertile, and Saanich women used yew (wedges???) to remove armpit hair. (B) The Saanich would use the trunk of a yew tree to catapult spears at their enemies and would steam yew branches inside bull kelp to mold them into the perfect bows. The Kwakwaka’wakw would bind a bundle of yew to a hemlock pole to harvest sea urchins. Many tribes mixed taxus needles in with their kinnikinnick smoking herbs, which was not the greatest idea due to all the naturally present toxins. (PM)
Pacific yew is used occasionally by the Japanese in traditional construction and wood carving. (B)
Pacific yew bark contains a drug discovered to be a potent anticancer drug known as taxol. For half a century, demand for the medicine depleted supplies of yew bark and threatened the species. As of 2006, Taxol can be completely chemically synthesized without the need for live bark extraction and can be produced from T. baccata or T. canadensis extracts. (LC)
Pacific yew is the hardest wood in our bioregion, and it is decay-resistant and dense. The wood has been valued for millennia, and it takes a polish nicely. Gunstocks, musical instruments, boat decks, fenceposts, and woodworking items have all been made from pacific yew, but it is not a commercially viable lumber tree. In the mid-80s, yew boards would be sold to Japan for an average price of $3600 per thousand board feet, and $4150 per thousand board feet for Grade 1 logs. Boards sold would largely be used in carvings. (B)
[1] Bolsinger, C. and Jaramillo, A. Pacific Yew. srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/taxus/brevifolia.htm
