Taxus mairei

(Lemee & H.Lév.) S.Y.Hu (Liu 1960)

Common names

Maire's yew, 台灣紅豆杉 nanfang hongdoushan [Chinese].

Taxonomic notes

Type: China, NE Yunnan, Dongchuan Shi, May 1912. E. E. Maire s.n. (holotype E00094199, isotype A00018687). Synonymy: see POWO. It was first described as a new species of Tsuga, and later authors treated T. mairei as synonymous with, or a variety of, T. chinensis, T. sumatrana, and T. wallichiana. Note that T. mairei was described prior to T. chinensis, thus treatment within that taxon is incorrect (Farjon 2010). Regardless, as noted in the Taxus discussion, analysis using both morphological and molecular data has confirmed that this taxon warrants treatment at species rank, despite some evidence of past natural hybridization between T. chinensis, T. mairei and T. wallichiana.

Description

Shrubs, or trees to 30 m tall and 150 cm dbh, usually with a single trunk and a pyramidal, rounded or spreading crown. Bark thin, variable; red, purple, brown or gray, exfoliating in strips or flakes. Twigs alternate, slender, round, finely grooved along decurrent leaf bases, green turning orange- or purple-brown. Leaves 2–ranked, spreading at nearly right angles to the shoot, 15–35 × 2–4 mm, linear, usually falcate, thick, coriaceous, with revolute margins, with a cuspidate to mucronate apex; midrib on upper side raised in a shallow groove 0.2–0.3 mm wide, continuous to apex; midrib on lower side flat with few or no papillae, continuous to apex; dark green above with two pale yellow stomatal bands below. Pollen cones axillary in rows on either side of fertile shoots, ovoid, 5–6 × 3–4 mm, yellow-green to pale brown, each with 8–14 microsporophylls. Seed cones axillary, solitary or in pairs, on lower side of shoots, with aril at first green and covering lower half of seed, swelling to orange or red and covering seed, 10–13 × 7–10 mm (Farjon 2010). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

Distribution and Ecology

Taiwan and China. In Taiwan, in northern and central parts of the island at elevations of 1000–3000 m (Liu 1970 [as T. celebica]). The distribution in China is unclear. Zhang and Ru (2010) say it is confined to Guangxi, Hubei, Shanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan, with natural forests dominated by this species limited to Guangxi and SE Shanxi. Farjon (2010) accepts that distribution but also places it in Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, N Guangdong, Guizhou, W Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, and Zhejiang. The distribution of recorded collections (map shown below) favors Farjon's description. Taxus mairei is found from near sea level to 3500 m elevation within conifer and mixed forests and on more open slopes; also on rocky slopes, often on limestone; often riparian (Farjon 2010).

A study in Shanxi found widespread seedlings but a highly clumped distribution of mature trees, with a very low female/male sex ratio and a preponderance of vegetative propagation (Zhang and Ru 2010).

Distribution data for all species native to east Asia and Malesia, from Conifers of the World, downloaded on 2018.01.26.
Taxus mairei shown in blue.

The conservation status of "vulnerable" reflects ongoing population reduction due primarily to exploitation for taxol production; however, the remaining area of occupancy is unknown (Yang et al. 2013).

A study in Anhui found 10 bird species that feed on and disperse seed of T. mairei; of these, Urocissa erythrorhyncha (red-billed blue magpie), Hemixos castanonotus (chestnut bulbul) and Ixos mcclellandii (mountain bulbul) were the most important predators and dispersers (Deng et al. 2008).

Remarkable Specimens

A dbh of 48.34 cm is given by Zhang and Ru (2010); I have seen no other data.

Ethnobotany

Quite a few chemical studies have been performed in the search for pharmacologically useful compounds in this species (e.g., Zhou et al. 2007), and as with other species of Taxus it contains the cancer-treatment compound paclitaxel. However, I have found no sources that indicate the species is commercially important for this.

Observations

No data as of 2026-01-19.

Remarks

Named for the French missionary plant collector Édouard Ferdinand Ernest Maire, who collected the type specimen; at the same time Juniperus mairei and Podocarpus mairei (now Keteleeria davidiana) were also described (Lemeé and Léveillé 1914).

Citations

Deng, Q. S., Q. Q. Zhu, and C. H. Lu. 2008. Natural regeneration of Taxus chinensis var. mairei and its seed dispersal by frugivorous birds. Chinese Journal of Ecology 27(5):712-717.

Lemeé and H. Léveillé. 1914. Le Monde des Plantes 16:20. Available: Real Jardin Botánico, accessed 2025.12.28.

Liu, Tang-Shui. 1960. Illustrations of Native and Introduced Ligneous Plants of Taiwan 1:16.

Yang, Y., T. Christian, and N. Li. 2013. Taxus mairei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T191659A1991533. https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/191659/0, accessed 2018.02.12.

Zhang, Jin-Tun, and Wenming Ru. 2010. Population characteristics of endangered species Taxus chinensis var. mairei and its conservation strategy in Shanxi, China. Population Ecology 52(3):407-416.

Zhou, X., Z. Wang, K. Jiang, Y. Wei, J. Lin, X. Sun, and K. Tang. 2007. Screening of taxol-producing endophytic fungi from Taxus chinensis var. mairei. Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology 43(4):439-443.

See also

Huang 1994 (the Flora of Taiwan).