Himalayan Yew Facts

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Himalayan Yew Facts
by \| 15-05-2013 19:51 0
I just got to know about the trouble that Himalayan Yew is facing. These are some points I would like to share. A yew tree in the Himalayas that produces the chemotherapy drug, Taxol, is in danger of extinction. An update to the IUCN Red List, has moved the tree, named Taxus contorta, from Vulnerable to Endangered. . "The Himalayan yew is an evergreen tree, generally middle-sized, though sometimes quite large, with a large, spreading crown. Most yew trees tend to be forked, fluted, and with depressions at branch-stem junctions. This is not regarded as a defect (Evans, 1984). Its bark is reddish-gray, thin and smooth, and peels off in longitudinal shreds. Its leaves are 1.5-2.75 by 0.2-0.25 centimetres, usually curved, acuminate margins, slightly inrolled, dark-green and shining above, brownish-yellow and somewhat pale beneath, single nerved and narrowing into a short petiole." . Taxol is used to treat several kinds of cancer, including breast, ovarian, and lung cancer. It has also been used to fight AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma. . Unfortunately this yew is an endangered species of tree due to its capacity to provide taxol from its bark. . Over exploitation can cause this valuable resource to vanish. This must be prevented. A number of Yew trees have dried up and we can't let any more to have the same fate.

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