Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Wood from the yew is classified as a closed-pore softwood, similar to cedar and pine. Easy to work, yew is among the hardest of the softwoods, yet it possesses a remarkable elasticity, making it ideal for products that require springiness, such as bows. [67] The wood is esteemed for cabinetry and tool handles. [21]
Taxus is the Latin word for this tree and its wood that is used to make javelins. [7] The Latin word is probably borrowed, via Greek τόξον tóxon, from taxša, the Scythian word used for "yew" and "bow" [8] (cognate of Persian تخش Taxš meaning bow) [9] [10] because the Scythians used its wood to make their bows. [9]
Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Taxus: European yew or common yew (Taxus baccata) Pacific yew or western yew (Taxus brevifolia) Canadian yew (Taxus canadensis) Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis) Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata)
Taxus brevifolia, the Pacific yew or western yew, is a species of tree in the yew family Taxaceae native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. It is a small evergreen conifer , thriving in moisture and otherwise tending to take the form of a shrub .
One of the simpler longbow designs is known as the self bow, by definition made from a single piece of wood. Traditional English longbows are self bows made from yew wood. The bowstave is cut from the radius of the tree so that sapwood (on the outside of the tree) becomes the back and forms about one third of the total thickness; the remaining ...
Taxus canadensis, the Canada yew [2] or Canadian yew, is a conifer native to central and eastern North America, thriving in swampy woods, ravines, riverbanks and on lake shores. Locally called simply as "yew", this species is also referred to as American yew or ground-hemlock. Most of its range is well north of the Ohio River.
Taxaceae (/ t æ k ˈ s eɪ s i. iː,-ˌ aɪ /), commonly called the yew family, is a coniferous family which includes six extant and two extinct genera, and about 30 species of plants, or in older interpretations three genera and 7 to 12 species.
The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew (Taxus baccata) in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland. Considered one of the oldest trees in Britain, modern estimates place its age at an average of 5,000 years.