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Canada Yew

Taxus canadensis

Found in cliffs, bluffs, and rocky slopes over calcareous or mafic rocks, red spruce and hemlock swamps and bogs. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

36
Good

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 94%

Height
3–5 feet
Spread
6–8 feet
Light
Deep shade, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist

Space about 7 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Woody perennial
Leaves
Evergreen
Bloom
April to May
Fruiting season
Summer

Recorded in 18 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop
Rock outcrop on a mountain summit. Shown: Sassafras Mountain, on the North Carolina and South Carolina line, a neighboring state.Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record. Faithful JPEG display decode of embedded JP2; no AI or color enhancement. Phone derivative resized proportionally.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County
Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 127 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Taxus

  • Cladara limitariaMottled Gray Carpet, Yellow-Lined Conifer Looper, Yellow-Lined Forest Looper, Black-Angled Wave
  • Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
  • Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
  • Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
  • Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
  • Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Taxus

  • Catharus fuscescensVeery
  • Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
  • Hylocichla mustelinaWood Thrush
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Taxaceae
Hardiness
Zones 3a–7b
Flower color
Cream or yellow
Growth rate
Moderate
Growth habit
Several stems
Foliage color
Green
Fruit begins
Summer
Fruit ends
Summer

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

American Yew

Conservation status

Virginia rankS3
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources