Taxus baccata L.

Spice In the field

Family: TAXACEAE

Genus: Taxus

Catalan common name: Teix.

Spanish common name: Tejo. Tejón.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Eurosiberian

Uses and properties: Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal.

Plants protected by law: Balearic Catalogue.

IUCN Category: ENEndangered

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Xero-acanthic shrubs of the mountanous regions, and steppe-grasslands of Ampelodesmos mauritanica. Rock crevices and cliff faces. Garden plants. Rock creviceses.

Characteristics: This yew is a tree that can reach up to fifteen metres in height. However in Mallorca it is rare to find arborescent yews, and are normally in the form of small, extensively branched bushes due to goat foraging The leaves are linear and and densely cover the branches. Ovulate cones and pollen-bearing cones are found on separate individuals, female and male trees so to speak. The seeds have a fleshy red fleshy covering (the aril) that resembles a fruit. This species is a living relic form a time when the climate was much wetter and colder than the present. Flowers in spring.