Taxus cuspidata aka Japanese Yew

Taxus cuspidata, also known as the Japanese yew or spreading yew, is an evergreen tree or large shrub native to Japan, Korea, northeast China, and the extreme southeast of Russia. It can grow up to 10-18m tall, with a trunk up to 60cm in diameter. The lanceolate, flat, dark green leaves are arranged spirally on the stem, and are 1-3cm long and 2-3mm broad, with their bases twisted to align the leaves in two flattish rows on either side of the stem, except on erect leading shoots where the spiral arrangement is more obvious. The seed cones are highly modified, each containing a single seed 4-8mm long, partly surrounded by a modified scale that develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril. The arils are mature 6-9 months after pollination and are attractive to birds, which help spread the plant to other locations. The tree is dioecious, and the female plants do not produce cones. Instead, they produce red, ornamentally-attractive, berry-like fruits, each containing one seed almost completely surrounded by a fleshy red aril. The bark is scaly and reddish-brown. Although classified as a conifer, almost all parts of the plant are toxic. Individual trees from Sikhote-Alin are known to have been 1,000 years old. The Japanese yew was introduced to the US in 1833, and is now commonly cultivated there. It is a broad-columnar needled evergreen tree or multistemmed shrub that can grow up to 30-50’ tall in its native habitat, but is much smaller when cultivated, particularly if regularly pruned. The foliage may turn reddish-brown or yellow in winter, and the leaves are often tinged yellow beneath. The specific epithet, cuspidata, is in reference to the cuspidate (having a sharp pointed tip) foliage. The cultivar ‘Capitata’ is very similar to the species but has a more pyramidal form, and female plants may produce abundant fruit that is attractive to birds. The genus name is an old Latin name for yews.