Plant Profile: Taxus chinensis

If you're in search of a captivating evergreen to enhance your landscape, consider the Chinese yew, a member of the Taxaceae family. This compact evergreen tree, which reaches a height of only 10 feet, bears a resemblance to hemlock. A remarkable specimen located just outside the lath house at the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University has thrived beautifully over the years. You might already be acquainted with various other species within this tree family without even realizing it. Commonly referred to as yews, these trees can take on forms ranging from tree-like to shrub-like, dwarf, or even prostrate. Regardless of their shape, all yews feature narrow, evergreen leaves with needles approximately an inch long, arranged in two ranks spiraling along the green twigs. This tree is easy to propagate from cuttings, responds favorably to pruning, and is resilient to heat, drought, sunlight, and shade.

The Chinese yew is primarily valued for its foliage, but its fruits are particularly noteworthy. The yew produces a fleshy berry, roughly the size of a pea, which has an opening at one end that reveals a single, hard seed inside.