Japanese Yew
Taxus cuspidata · Taxaceae · 주목
How to spot it
Short, linear leaves look like two rows, and on female plants the seed is partly enclosed in a red aril.
(original photo, new tab)Leaf · Photo Derek Ramsey · CC BY-SA 2.5 
(original photo, new tab)Leaf · Photo Derek Ramsey · CC BY-SA 2.5 
(original photo, new tab)Bark · Photo Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) · CC BY-SA 2.5
Look
- Leaves
- Needle-like leaves are dark green above and yellowish beneath.
- Flowers
- Male plants make small pollen cones; female plants make a structure that forms a single seed.
- Fruit
- A red fleshy aril surrounds part of the exposed seed; it is not a true berry.
- Bark
- Reddish-brown, scaly bark.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native (Korean Peninsula)
- Native to
- Korea, China, Russia and Japan.
- Ecology
- Birds eat the aril and spread the seeds. American horticultural sources describe its cold hardiness and tolerance of dryness and city conditions.
Famous Japanese Yew trees in Korea
- Japanese Yew of Duwisan Mountain, JeongseonNatural Monument No. 433 · Sabuk-eup, Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do
- Japanese Yew Community of Sobaeksan MountainNatural Monument No. 244 · Gagok-myeon, Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do
- Guchendong Yew GroveProvincial Monument · Samgong-ri, Seolcheon-myeon, Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do