A review of the distribution and conservation status of Taxus in the Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia

Abstract

The Asian yews have been the subject of intense interest over the last two decades. Their value as a source of raw material for the production of the anticancer drug Taxol has meant that they have been intensively exploited throughout most parts of their range and this has led to increasing concern about their conservation. Uncertainty about the taxonomy and distribution of the taxa involved has made undertaking conservation assessments difficult. This paper gives a brief overview of recent research by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Kunming Institute of Botany into Asian yews and discusses some of the disparities between current national, regional and global conservation assessments.