Pacific yew

The Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is a plant species of the yew genus (Taxus) within the yew family (Taxaceae). It is widespread in western North America and occurs along the coast from south-eastern Alaska through the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta to central California (north of Sonora Pass). Taxus brevifolia thrives at altitudes of 0 to 2,100 meters and does best in moist and shady locations.

Taxus brevifolia was assessed as "potentially endangered" by the IUCN in 2012. The population of the slow-growing Pacific yew is threatened by the isolation of taxol (see taxanes below), e.g. paclitaxel. Despite improved extraction methods, around 1000 trees have to be felled to obtain 1 kg of taxol (Schilcher H 2015).

In the 1990s, it was possible to obtain the substance paclitaxel from the European yew (Taxus baccata), also known as the common yew, which had previously only been isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew. Docetaxel, another taxane cytostatic drug, was later added, which, like docetaxel , can be produced by partial synthesis.

Highly toxic due to the taxanes it contains: vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, drowsiness, seizures, cardiac arrest

1. Schilcher H (2015) Phytopharmaceuticals for tumor diseases. In: Guide to phytotherapy. Urban und Fischer Verlag Munich, pp. 1019-1020
2. 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.