Taxaceae Gray

First published in Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. 2: 222, 226. 1822 [10 Jan 1822] (as "Taxideae") (1822)
This family is accepted

Descriptions

Gemma Bramley, Anna Trias-Blasi & Richard Wilford (2023). The Kew Temperate Plant Families Identification Handbook. Kew Publishing Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Recognition
Characters of similar families: Cephalotaxaceae: there is ongoing debate over the status of this monogeneric family. The main characters used to distinguish it from Taxaceae s.s. are the aril fully enclosing the seed and the 2-ovulate bracts in the seed cones. Cupressaceae: pollen cones usually terminal, multiple seeds per scale, aril absent. Pinaceae: seed cone woody, seeds usually 2 per scale, aril absent. Podocarpaceae: true aril absent but seed often enveloped by a fleshy epimatium, leaves highly variable in form.
Morphology General Habit
Trees or shrubs, evergreen, resinous or non-resinous (foul-odoured in Torreya), dioecious or monoecious
Morphology General Bark
Bark scaly or fissured
Morphology Leaves
Leaves simple, spirally arranged but twisted to appear in 2 ranks, linear, lanceolate to acicular, typically decurrent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollen
Pollen cones solitary or clustered, axillary on year-old branches, globose to ovoid, microsporophylls peltate, each bearing 2–16 microsporangia
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed cones reduced to 1 ovule (Cephalotaxus seed cones with decussate bracts, each subtending 2 ovules), not winged, hard seed coat partially or wholly surrounded by fleshy or leathery aril, cotyledons 2.
Distribution
Taxaceae (including Cephalotaxaceae) has ca. 34 species in 6 genera: Amentotaxus, Austrotaxus, Cephalotaxus, Pseudotaxus, Taxus and Torreya. The family is distributed in N America, N Africa, and Eurasia to SE Asia. Cephalotaxus, included in the Taxaceae here, is sometimes treated as a separate, monogeneric family. Taxus baccata (yew) is widely grown in gardens.
Note
Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves linear to acicular, spiral to decussate. Pollen cones axillary, peltate microsporophylls each bearing 2–17 microsporangia. Mature seed cones reduced to 1 seed, seed arillate.
Description Author
Harry Baldwin & Tony Kirkham
[KTEMP-FIH]

Sources

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • The Kew Temperate Plant Families Identification Handbook

    • The Kew Temperate Plant Families Identification Handbook
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0