Cephalotaxus harringtonia
Common name: 
Japanese Plum Yew
Cow's Tail Pine
Pronunciation: 
sef-a-lo-TAKS-us ha-ring-TON-ee-uh
Family: 
Cephalotaxaceae
Genus: 
Cephalotaxus
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Conifer, evergreen, small tree to about 30 ft (~10 m) high, often a shrub in cultivation, branches out spread to nodding.  Leaves linear, needle-like, 4-6 cm long and 3-4 mm wide, often somewhat sickle-shaped, more or less opposite, arranged in 2 planes forming in a V-shaped trough along the twig, light green and very glossy above, 2 gray stomatal bands below.  Dioecious - male and female plants; male strobili on 1.2.5 cm long stalk; female cone a mass of scales on the underside of stems.  Fruit, actually a naked seed, ovoid, about 2.5 cm long and 2 cm wide, olive to reddish brown.
  • Sun in cooler regions and partial shade in warmer area.  Reportedly handles drought and heat.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone (5)6         Native to Japan and Korea.
  • A number of selections, including: 'Duke Gardens', wide spreading shrub; 'Fastigiata', very upright; 'Korean Gold', young needles yellow; 'Prostrata', low growing, and 'Gold Splash', low spreading, yellow shrub.
  • harringtonia: in honor of the Earl of Harrington, one of the first to grow the Japanese Plum Yew in a European garden.
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