# Florida Yew (Taxus floridana)

> A rare yew of the Apalachicola River ravines, a bushy evergreen small tree for shade in warm Southern gardens, with red fruit on female trees.

Also called Taxus baccata var. floridana. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-yew/

![Florida yew (Taxus floridana) sprig of flat, dark green needles in two rows, held over an open hand](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/florida-yew-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Connie Barlow, CC0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATaxus-floridana-2004-b.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 12 to 25 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 6 to 10
- Grows wild in: Rich moist slopes and the forest understory
- Native range: Florida
- Sun: Part, Shade, Full
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Rare, Evergreen, Tolerates shade, Wildlife value
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Florida yew is an evergreen that grows wild only in the ravines along the Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle, where it shares the bluffs with Florida torreya. Unlike our Canada yew, a low shrub that carries both kinds of cone on one plant, it grows upright into a small tree, and its plants are male or female. Its flat, dark green needles, about an inch long, end in an abrupt point. Florida lists it as endangered, and NatureServe ranks it imperiled. Logging, development and deer that rub their antlers on the stems threaten the wild stands. Grow it as a shaded specimen in a warm Southern garden, where English and Japanese yews suffer in the heat and humidity.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Florida yew grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a bushy small tree or large shrub 12 to 25 feet tall and up to 18 feet wide, and it often stays under 15 feet. Old stems bend to the ground and root, so a plant spreads into a clump.

Pollen is shed from January to March. On female trees the fruit ripens from August into October, a hard seed about a quarter inch long set in a fleshy red cup. Birds eat nearly all of the ripe fruit and spread the seed.

It grows wild only on the steep, shaded slopes of ravines along the Apalachicola River in Liberty and Gadsden counties, Florida, under beech, southern magnolia and American holly. Only 17 stands had been mapped by 1990. Its soils there are slightly acid to neutral sandy loams.

## How to grow Florida Yew

Florida yew does best in part shade and also grows in shade or full sun. Shelter it from harsh winds, which burn the needles in winter. It wants a fertile, slightly acid soil that stays moist but drains well, and it does not stand flooding. In soggy ground its roots rot. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and set trees 12 feet apart. Keep it at least 15 feet from overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant in early spring or early fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch a wide ring clear of the trunk. Its seed has a double dormancy, and seed sown outdoors in late summer or fall mostly comes up the second spring. Indoors, keep cleaned seed damp at 61 to 64 degrees F for five to seven months, then in the refrigerator for two to four more. Sow it half an inch deep and shade the seedlings their first summer.

Water weekly through the first two summers and in long dry spells after that. It can be hard to establish in an ordinary landscape. Deer rub their antlers on the stems and can kill them, so fence or cage young trees.

Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. The wind carries the pollen, so plant them near one another. Twig and needle blights, root weevils, mealybugs and scale insects can attack it. Every part except the red flesh around the seed is poisonous to people, pets and livestock.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Taxus floridana](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/taxflo/all.html)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 2: Taxus floridana](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501255)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Taxus floridana, Florida Yew](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.155628/Taxus_floridana)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Taxus floridana](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/taxus-floridana/)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Taxus floridana](https://www.fnps.org/plant/taxus-floridana)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Taxus floridana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TAFL)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Taxus floridana](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/taxus/taxus-floridana/)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Taxus chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Taxus.pdf)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary, 6/18/2026](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Florida Yew, add ?species=florida-yew with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=florida-yew&zone=6&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Florida Yew](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=florida-yew): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=florida-yew
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Florida Yew is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=florida-yew
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Florida Yew needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=florida-yew:3
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Florida Yew flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.