Taxus chinensis
Species of conifer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taxus chinensis is a species of yew. It is commonly called the Chinese yew, though this term also refers to Taxus celebica or Taxus sumatrana.
| Taxus chinensis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Morton Arboretum Acc. 1378-56-2 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Cupressales |
| Family: | Taxaceae |
| Genus: | Taxus |
| Species: | T. chinensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Taxus chinensis | |
| Subspecies | |
|
Taxus chinensis var. mairei | |
The species was first described by Alfred Rehder in 1919 in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum.[3] Before that, the tree was considered a variety of Taxus baccata, T. baccata var. sinensis.[4]
This plant is used to produce medicines for cancer treatment,[5][6] including Paclitaxel[7] and Taxifolin (found in Taxus chinensis var. mairei).[8] It can also be used in many other ways and is protected in various ways under Chinese and international law.[6][9] This protection is in place due to the species' importance to cancer treatment, and its susceptibility to anthropomorphic disturbance. Currently, the species is suffering the consequences of its economic and scientific exploitation for the production of the aforementioned anticancer drugs.[10][11]
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