The family Taxaceae, commonly called the yew family, includes three genera and about 7 to 12 species of
coniferous plants, or in other interpretations (see Classification, below), six genera and about 30 species.They are much branched, small
trees and
shrubs. The leaves are
evergreen, spirally arranged, often twisted at the base to appear 2-ranked. They are linear to lanceolate, and have pale green or white stomatal bands on the undersides. The plants are
dioecious, rarely
monoecious. The male
cones are 2-5 mm long, and shed
pollen in the early spring. The female cones are highly reduced, with just one ovuliferous scale and one seed. As the seed matures, the ovuliferous scale develops into a fleshy
aril partly enclosing the seed. The mature aril is brightly coloured, soft, juicy and sweet, and is eaten by
birds which then disperse the hard seed undamaged in their droppings.
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