Taxus
in botany, the yew, the typical genus of the order Taxacex. T. Baccata, the common yew, is an ever- TAYGETUS green tree which often attains a great size. Specimens of remarkable antiquity are commonly seen in old churchyards.
The timber is extremely durable and valuable, and was formerly much used for making bows. Its leaves and young branches act as narcotic-acrid poisons when eaten by man or the lower animals. T. Canadensis, the dwarf yew, or ground hemlock, is a small, evergreen shrub, with the general aspect of a dw dwarf hemlock spruce (Pinus Canadensis).