Pacific Yew Tree Information

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Images of Pacific Yew:

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Pacific Yew grows in the following 7 states and provinces:

Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington

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Information about Pacific Yew:

The Taxus Brevifolia is commonly known as the Mountain Mahogany, Pacific Yew, Western Yew, Yew as well as Yew Brush.

The currently accepted scientific name of Pacific yew is Taxus brevifolia Nutt. . Pacific yew is a member of the family Taxaceae .

Pacific yew grows along the Pacific Coast of southeastern Alaska southward through western British Columbia to central California . In the Rocky Mountain region, it occurs from southeastern British Columbia through northwestern Montana and northern Idaho into eastern Washington and Oregon . Dense stands of shrubby Pacific yew dominate approximately 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) in the South Fork of the Clearwater Drainage of north-central Idaho . This plant has been essentially eliminated from another 9,880 acres (4,000 ha) by timber harvest .

Pacific yew grows as an understory dominant or codominant in a number of coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains. Overstory dominants include grand fir (Abies grandis), white fir (Abies concolor), and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla). Vine maple (Acer circinatum), queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), and wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) are common codominants. In parts of northern Idaho, Pacific yew grows as a climax dominant which forms a nearly contiguous shrublike overstory. It is listed as an indicator or dominant in the following habitat type (hts), community type (cts), and plant association (pas) classification schemes: Area Classification Authority CA mixed evergreen cts Sawyer and others 1977 CA, OR: Siskiyou Mtn. forest pas Atzet and Wheeler 1984 Province CA, OR: e Siskiyous forest cts Waring 1969 n ID forest cts, hts Cooper and others 1987 OR: Abott Creek RNA forest cts Mitchell and Moir 1976 s OR: Cascade Mtns. forest pas Atzet and McCrimmon 1990 OR, ID: Wallowa- general veg. pas Johnson and Simon 1987 Whitman NF n Rocky Mountains Pacific yew cts Crawford and Johnson 1985

Some of the information provided here is attributed to:Tirmenstein, D. A. 1990. Taxus brevifolia. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). , available at the USDA Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) website