Foliage Notes:
Evergreen (Flat dark green needles about 1"; Glossy, deep green above and yellow-green below; May turn reddish brown/yellow in winter)
Stem Notes:
First year stems are olive-colored and second year stems are brown
Fruit Notes:
Red/Brown (Female plants have a fleshy, red aril that surrounds a hard, brown nutlet in fall; the aril is the only part of Taxus that is not poisonous)
Soil Notes:
Very adaptable to different types of soils, except those that are poorly drained
Diagnostic Characteristics:
The flat, needle-like leaves (0.5-1" long) are indistinctly 2-ranked (Taxus x media is more prominently 2-ranked), upright and irregularly V-shaped. Two yellowish bands are present on the leaf underside. Pointed bud scales (T. x media has blunt bud scales). First year stems olive-colored and second year stems are brown (T. x media stems are olive-colored in both the first and second years).
