california yew

2 definitions found

california yew - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Yew \Yew\, n. [OE. ew, AS. e['o]w, [imac]w, eoh; akin to D. ijf,
     OHG. [imac]wa, [imac]ha, G. eibe, Icel. [=y]r; cf. Ir.
     iubhar, Gael. iubhar, iughar, W. yw, ywen, Lith. j["e]va the
     black alder tree.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Bot.) An evergreen tree (Taxus baccata) of Europe,
        allied to the pines, but having a peculiar berrylike fruit
        instead of a cone. It frequently grows in British
        churchyards.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The wood of the yew. It is light red in color, compact,
        fine-grained, and very elastic. It is preferred to all
        other kinds of wood for bows and whipstocks, the best for
        these purposes coming from Spain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The American yew (Taxus baccata, var. Canadensis)
           is a low and straggling or prostrate bush, never
           forming an erect trunk. The California yew (Taxus brevifolia
           , also called Pacific yew) is a good-sized
           tree, and its wood is used for bows, spear handles,
           paddles, and other similar implements; the anticancer
           agent taxol is obtained from its bark. Another yew is
           found in Florida, and there are species in Japan and
           the Himalayas.
           [1913 Webster + PJC]
  
     3. A bow for shooting, made of the yew.
        [1913 Webster]

california yew - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  California yew
      n 1: small or medium irregularly branched tree of the Pacific
           coast of North America; yields fine hard close-grained wood
           [syn: Pacific yew, California yew, western yew,
           Taxus brevifolia]