European yew

A widespread evergreen tree species in Europe, Northwest Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Northern Iran, reaching a maximum height of 28 m with branched and deep roots. Red-brown, later gray-brown bark, needle-shaped leaves 2 mm wide to 3.5 cm long, male and female cones and a red, soft, sweet-tasting seed coat containing the seeds.

Apart from the mature seed coat, all parts of the yew, including the seeds contained in the seed coat, are highly poisonous. Fatal dose for adults: 50 to 100 g of yew needles.

In the 1990s, it was possible to obtain paclitaxel from the European yew (Taxus baccata), which had previously only been isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew. This was later joined by docetaxel, another taxane cytostatic drug which, like docetaxel, can be partially synthesized.

1. https://www.awl.ch/heilpflanzen/taxus_baccata/eibe.htm
2. Asif M et al. (2016) Pharmacognostic studies on Taxus baccata L.: A brilliant source of Anti-cancer agents. Pak J Pharm Sci.29(1):105-9. PMID: 26826823.
3. Nižnanský Ľ et al. (2022) Natural Taxanes: From Plant Composition to Human Pharmacology and Toxicity. Int J Mol Sci. 9;23(24):15619. doi: 10.3390/ijms232415619. PMID: 36555256; PMCID: PMC9779243.