Taxus brevifolia
Pacific yew, Pacific Yew
Family: Taxaceae · Type: shrub · Native
Pacific yew is a native shrub found in northwestern California, the California Cascade Range, northern and central Sierra Nevada, and San Francisco Bay Area in dense, mixed-evergreen forests and canyon bottoms at elevations of 10 to 2,150 meters. The tree produces subtle, pale green to yellow-green foliage that provides a distinctive textural appearance in forest understories. Growing as a trunk up to 18 meters tall with a diameter less than 0.6 meters, this yew features uniquely shredding bark with outer scales ranging from purple to purple-brown and inner scales in red to red-purple tones. Its leaves are pale green on top surfaces and shiny yellow-green underneath, creating a soft, layered appearance in woodland settings. The tree produces small ovoid seeds approximately 5 to 6.5 millimeters long with smooth seed coats.
Habitat: Generally dense, mixed-evergreen forest, lower slopes or canyon bottoms
Elevation: 10-2150 m
Bioregions: NW, CaR, n&c SN, SnFrB
California counties: Sacramento, Lake, El Dorado, Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Trinity, Shasta, Siskiyou, San Mateo, Butte, Tehama, Calaveras, San Francisco, Plumas, Yuba, Tuolumne, Sierra, Amador, Modoc, Alameda, Santa Clara
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.