10. Leaf blades curved downwards, often arched above the
      plane of branchlet................................................... l1
10. Leaf blades straight or curved upwards, or reflexed 
      at petioles.......................................................... 14

11.  Branchlets usually leafless below the middle; leaves often in 
      whorl-like arrangements near  apex of branchlets..................... 12
11.  Branchlets usually leafy to near base; leaves more
      more or less spreading along two sides of branchlets................. 13

12. Tall narrow or cylindrical shrubs or trees with erect to ascending
      branches; England, Ireland (var. sparsifolia in Scotland, 
      var. nana in Sardinia.................................. Taxus fastigiata

	Left:  T. fastigiata, collected by Lange,  Kew Herbarium (K).  Illustrations: center from Mitchell & Darter (1972), right from Veitch et al. (1880).

12. Shrubs or pyramidal trees with horizontal branches;
      branchlets often recurved or pendant; W Europe (Plants from 
      Iran with obconical to bell-pepper shaped seeds are referred to
      var. subpyamidalis)...................... Taxus baccata var. pyramidalis

13. Leaves crisscrossing more than spreading parallel, at least 
      near apex of branchlets; widely distributed in the Euro-
      Mediterranean, forming yew woodlands on chalk in SE England, 
      cultivated in arboreta (English yew).................... Taxus recurvata
      (var. intermedia is distinguished by mostly rigid, straight
      branchlets with leaves more olive green on adaxial surface,
      appearing more strongly crisscrossed in dried specimens, 
      and in tapering to an acute or acuminate apex' 
      var. linearis has more distant thinner leaves, more abruptly
      bent downwards near apex.

            Taxus recurvata var. recurvata-Left: Cultivar 
            'English Yew' in Secrest Arboretum, Wooster
            Ohio. Center: branch of live tree in the 
            Garden of Plants near the Museum of Natural
            History. Right: from Yorkshire (Turrill s.n. K).

13. Leaves mostly parallel to each other except the uppermost 
      occasionally at right angles towards apex of 
      branchlets............................. Taxus baccata var. dovastoniana

             Taxus baccata var. dovastoniana.  Left: branch 
          of unlabeled tree at Kew Gardens. Right: 
          Tree at Kew Gardens labeled	cv.'Aurea'. 

14. Leaves spreading by bending of the blades, usually
      overlapping branchlets near their base when specimens are 
      pressed, not revolute when dried (except when young); abaxial 
      surface of leaves usually with (7-) 8-10 (-11) stomata rows in a   
      band and with a marginal border of (0-)4–7 (-9)rows of cells 
      lacking papillae.................................................... 15
14. Leaves often sharply bent at the base of the blade, adpressed
      against the branchlet, recurved to revolute along margins
      when dried; abaxial surface of leaves usually with (9-) 12-15  
       (-16) rows of stomata in a band and a border of (6-)8–18 
      (-24)rows of marginal cells without papillae........................ 23

15. Leaves acute to acuminate............................................. 16
15. Leaves obtuse, rounded to abruptly apiculate.......................... 18

16. Dried leaves usually notably dark green above and paler yellowish 
      green below; Euro-Mediterranean (Plants from the W Himalayas with 
      conspicuous resin cells in the leaf mesophyll are referred to 
      T. contorta)............................. Taxus recurvata var. linearis
16. Dried leaves olive green to yellowish green, similar in color 
      on both surfaces.................................................... 17

17a. Shrubs or trees with distinct leaders................................17b

    17b. Branches somewhat decending, the branchlets, however, ascending, 
         leaves ascending to erect.......... Taxus baccata var. elegantissima
    17b. Branches mostly horizontal, often subverticllate; leaves recurved
        (downwards).......................... Taxus baccata var. washingtonii
17a. Shrubs spreading more horizontally than upright, lacking a
       distinct leader; leaves usually curved upwards; frequent in
       cultivation.......... Taxus baccata var. elegantissima cv. 'Repandens'

18. Branchlets nearly in fascicles or appearing digitate,
      mostly pendant or spreading recurved, uppermost 
      leaves directed towards apex of branches; W Euro-
      Mediterranean, cultivated as shrubs or as hedges, 
      especially about government buildings (Dovaston yew)......
      ...................................... Taxus baccata var. dovastoniana
      (Plants from Portugal and Spain with paler green leaves spreading 
       almost radial are referred to var. erecta if leaves acute or
       var. ericoides, which occurs in Morocco, if leaves are acute)
18. Branchlets subpinnate to isodichotomous.............................. 19 

19. Branching mostly isodichotomous; branchlets and leaves mostly 
      in one plane, horizontal........................................... 20
19. Branchlets arranged along a main branch; leaves usually upturned..... 21

20. Adjacent leaves on one side of branchlet with margins nearly 
      overlapping; leaves relatively thick, not notably curled
      when dried, plane to uniformly recurved along margins;
      Euro-Mediterranean......................... Taxus baccata var. baccata

Taxus baccata var. baccata. Left to right: lectotype, from Bosnia,  
(Curic, K),photo by R. Spjut of live plant at Kew Gardens, from 
Nottinghamshire(Bowden & Hillman 433, BM), from Bavaria (Milchbruder, K) 

20. Adjacent leaves on one side of branchlet 
      distant; leaves relatively thin, more
      curled or revolute in upper third when
      dried.... Taxus baccata var. washingtonii
      (T. recurvata var. linearis differs by
      the leaves twisted perpendicular to the 
      plane of the branch and also leaves are
      bent downwards near an obtuse ot acute apex)

21. Branchlets flexuous or pendant, not arched or recurved; 
      leaves not yellowish orange (Fig.).... Taxus baccata var. jacksonii 
21. Branchlets recurved; leaves yellowish to orange................ 22

22a. Branchlets thick; dried leaves dark olive green, not glaucous
      often yellowish but not orange........ Taxus baccata var. variegata

22a. Branchlets slender; dried leaves glaucous or yellowish orange
      on abaxial surface

    22b Aril red..................................... Taxus baccata var. glauca 
    22b Aril yellow............................ Taxus baccata var. fructo-lutea

23. Leaves spreading mostly along two opposing sides of a 
      branchlet, erect to horizontal (two-ranked).......................... 24
23.  Leaves not consistently in two-ranks, often in whorl-like
      arrangements......................................................... 26

25. Plants densely branched; branchlets thick, long pendant or rigidly 
      divaricate or recurved; leaves mostly erect on branchlets, 
      uniformly recurved along margins when dried; mostly in
      cultivation (Cuspidate yew)........................ Taxus cuspidata

25. Plants diffusely branched with spreading horizontal
      slender branchlets in a biternate arrangement; 
      leaves mostly in a horizontal plane, revolute along 
      margins, especially in upper one third when dried; 
      common understory tree in SE Russia, NE China, Korea, 
      Japan; common in cultivation as shrubs 
      or trees (Delicate-branch yew).................... Taxus biternata

      Taxus biternata: Left (1st) column: upper two are from plants 
      in the Secrest Arboretum, appearing to grow wild as a forest
      dominant, lower left is overlapping photos of two herbarium 
      specimens in the Arnold Arboretum (A), upper one collected by E. 
      Wilson (10688, with seed) from Korea, lower collected by C. Sargent 
      from Japan (with purplish dried aril). Column 2: top is more of
      Wilson 10688. The remaining photos are from the Forestry Research 
      Institute in Korea, provided by Kang Hyeon Ka, received as
      T.cuspidata var. cuspidata (3rd column) and var. latifolia
      (far right column), which here is not considered to be that 
      variety; however, the differences in the bark between the two 
      trees suggest cryptic differences in T. biternata to warrant 
      further taxonomic segregation. The middle photo in second column
      corresponds to the tree in the third column, and the lower photo
      in the second column corresponds to that in the far right 
      column as labeled by Kang Hyeon Ka.

26. Leaves mostly imbricate, erect or bent upwards, drying 
      yellowish to yellowish orange....................................... 27
26. Leaves appearing in a star-like arrangement, or 
      decussate in several V-formations, some reflexed, 
      usually twisted with their edges facing upwards,
      others on horizontal branchlets nearly in two 
      ranks, drying dark green (except var. nana)..........................28

27. Leaves and branchlets dense, ascending to erect, the
     leaves more in whorls than bending to one-side of branchlets;
     introduced from Japan, includes various cultivars.......
     (Caespitose yew)
     ...................................Taxus caespitosa var. caespitosa

             		

          Taxus caespitosa var. caespitosa.  Left 3: Cultivars,
        in the Secrest Arboretum, Wooster, Ohio; far right:
        from Mt. Daisen, Japan (topotype, Makino 43792, S), 

27. Branchlets and leaves lax, branchlets spreading recurved,  
	leaves ascending on lateral branchlets, introduced 
        from Japan and Korea; common in cultivation.............
        .....................................Taxus caespitosa var. latifolia

28. Plants low rounded bushes to tall trees; branchlets
      spreading outwards in various directions;
      leaves oblong to linear, plane to recurved along 
      margins............................................................ 29

29. Leaves overlapping and slightly crisscrossed near apex
      of branchlets, mostly in two-ranks below; variable
      in habit; SE Russia, Korea, Japan (Small seed yew)....
      ................................. Taxus umbraculifera var. microcarpa

29. Leaves mostly radial on young shoots................................ 30

Taxus umbraculifera var. microcarpa. Top left: illustration
from Kolensikov (1935). Top right: specimen from Japan, 
Herb. Zuccarini in Gray Herbarium (GH). Lower left: 
Wilson 8538 from S Korea, Arnold Arboretum Herbarium (A).
Lower center: from SE Russia, Palczevski 3601 (A). Far 
right: illustration in Siebold & Zuccarini (1870). 
Note the strong similarity in phyllotaxy (leaf arrangement) 
represented by specimens from different areas. The specimen 
from SE Russia and the illustration in Siebold & 
Zuccarini (1870) have thick rigid branches in contrast to 
flexuous branchlets in the other specimens. R. A. Keen 
annotated the specimen collected by Palczevski 3601 in the
Kew Herbarium (K, July 1966) as T. cuspidata cv. 'Densa'

30. Branchlets stiff, densely compacted; SE Russia, 
      NE China, Korea, Japan, common in cultivation as a
      hedge plant (Dwarf yew).................Taxus umbraculifera var. nana

	  Taxus umbraculifera var. nana: three left photos-cultivars 
        in the Secrest Arboretum, the second is a close-up of the
        first, the third is a close-up of a plant shown in part in
        photo under var. umbraculifera, the far right is a specimen
        in the Arnold Arboretum (A) collected by Kypehinova from
        Primorsky Province in SE Russia.

30. Branchlets limber; plants diffusely branched; native to Japan, 
      hybrids developed in cultivation, includes Hatfield yew
      (Umbrelliform yew)............ Taxus umbraculifera var. umbraculifera

   Taxus umbraculifera var. umbraculifera: Lower left, tall
   tree in back, close-up shown above, Secrest Arboretum, also
   yellowish green shrub in foreground (in part) is var. nana 
   for which a close-up is shown under var. nana. Column 2: top
   is a close-up, looking down a branch from above, of a  
   cultivated plant in Rockville, Maryland; below shows the
   holotype of the Hatfield yew in the Arboretum Herbarium (A). 
   Column 3 is a specimen in A collected by Muroi (#30) from
   Japan, proposed epitype based on proposed neotype shown 
   far right, an illustration in Makino, Illustrated Flora of 
   Nippon, captioned “Taxus cuspidata var. umbraculifera”.