Taxus wallichiana
Rakhal (Punjab area), tingschi (rest of India), deodar (=God's tree) (Hartzell 1991, east Himalayan yew.
Type: India: N. Wallich s.n. (lecto M). Syn. Taxus baccata L. subsp. wallichiana (Zucc.) Pilg. 1903 and many heterotypic synonyms, see POWO for full listing. Traditionally many authors have taken a very broad view of T. wallichiana, to the point of considering it the only Taxus native to Malesia and east Asia (except T. cuspidata of Japan and Korea), but molecular taxonomy and the accumulation of more and better preserved specimens have driven a revision of that perspective. Möller et al. (2013) present an extensive molecular and morphological study that considered samples from 79 populations of Taxus wallichiana (sensu latu) across the entire distribution range of the species, and found those samples represented 5 distinct population clusters. Four of the clusters mapped onto the known species T. wallichiana (as treated here), T. chinensis, T. mairei, and T. florinii; the fifth cluster mapped onto a new grouping, for which the authors described T. calcicola. This rigorous analysis has led to a more general acceptance of all five taxa as good species, although the differences between them are of an order more consistent with subspecies or varieties, than with separate species.
Shrubs, or trees to 30 m tall and 150 cm dbh, commonly with a single trunk and ascending to erect, then drooping branches forming a pyramidal or rounded crown. Bark thin, reddish or purplish brown or gray, thin, exfoliating in strips or irregular flakes. Twigs alternate, thin, round, green in first year, turning orange or purplish brown. Foliage buds small, ovoid, with imbricate, closely appressed, dark brown scales, that are retained long into the growing season. Leaves more or less distichous or slightly overlapping, 15-35 × 2-4 mm, twisted at nearly sessile base, linear to lanceolate, falcate, dark green above and light green with two yellowish bands of randomly distributed stomata flanked by shiny leaf margins below; slender and soft with flat or slightly revolute margins and a cuspidate or more abrupt mucronate apex; adaxial (upper) midrib raised, 0.2-0.3 mm wide, nearly continuous to apex; on lower side flat, densely papillate, 0.5 mm wide, continuous to apex. Pollen cones axillary, solitary in rows on either side of the shoot, ovoid, 5-6 × 3-4 mm, short-pedunculate with dry, yellowish-green basal bracts. Seed cones axillary, solitary or sometimes paired, on underside of distal end of twigs, sessile. Aril green ripening succulent red or orange and overtopping seed, cup-like, 10-13 × 7-10 mm. Seeds ovoid, slightly flattened, 5-8 × 3.5-5 mm, green maturing blackish brown (Farjon 2010, Möller et al. 2013).
The densely papillate midrib and presence of shiny leaf margins next to the stomatal bands serve to distinguish this species from T. calcicola and T. mairei. The falcate leaves serve to distinguish it from T. chinensis, and the long persistence of foliage bud scales and acuminate apex distinguish it from T. florinii (Möller et al. 2013). Farjon (2010) and Möller et al. (2013) disagree about stomata; Farjon says they are randomly distributed in the stomatal bands, while Möller et al. say they are present in 12-18 parallel lines on either side of the midrib.
Bhutan; China: Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan; India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim; Myanmar; Nepal; Tibet. Typically occurs on acidic to neutral soils at elevations of 900 to 3700 m, as an understory or lower-canopy tree in either angiosperm or conifer-dominated, deciduous or evergreen forests (Farjon 2010.
Distribution data for all species native to east Asia and Malesia, from Conifers of the World, downloaded on 2018.01.26. T. wallichiana as shown here includes T. florinii, because only a few herbarium collections are currently assigned to that species; the majority have instead been assigned to T. wallichiana and detailed review of the herbarium material will be needed to rectify this situation. The same is true of T. chinensis, some specimens of which can be assigned to T. calcicola.
V. Dinets reports: "The largest one I've seen was in Mekong Canyon on Tibet/Yunnan border: 15+ m high, 30-40 cm dbh. Another tree in Kali Gandaki Gorge, Nepal was ±50 cm dbh, but only 7-8 m high" (Vladimir Dinets e-mail 1998.01.10).
Used for bedsteads, jampan poles, unholstery, clogs, whip handles, and of course bows. The bark is used to make a red dye (Hartzell 1991).
The red spot a Brahmin places in the center of the forehead is made with a paste of powdered yew bark and oil (Liu 1970 [as T. celebica]).
No data as of 2023.02.23.
The epithet honors the collector of the type specimen, Nathaniel Wolff Wallich (1786-1854), a Danish botanist who collected extensively in southeast Asia.
Moeller, M., L. M. Gao, R. R. Mill, J. Liu, D. Q. Zhang, R. C. Poudel, and D. Z. Li. 2013. A multidisciplinary approach reveals hidden taxonomic diversity in the morphologically challenging Taxus wallichiana complex. Taxon 62(6):1161-1177.
Zuccarini. 1843. Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Konigl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 3:803, t. 5. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.02.25.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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