genuine yew wood is harvest from Tree of the genus Taxus . In the United States , wood sell as yew is peaceable yew or Western yew , from the metal money Taxus brevifolia . Yews are cone-bearing trees , have-to doe with to pine and other deal . Botanists sort out another metal money sold under the trade name " New Zealand yew " in a dissimilar folk from true yew . Yew tree are broadly small and irregularly shape , which defecate baseball bat thin out from the Tree scarce and comparatively expensive .
Step 1
The duramen of the yew tree diagram treat a wide ambit of colors including shades of brown , orange tree and Au , often with purple streaks . The Mrs. Henry Wood is characterize by a gamey lustre . Yew sapwood is considerably lighter , in nuance of lily-white and yellow , and clearly severalize from the heartwood . Perhaps because yew Tree are not often tall and straight , the wood grain is unpredictable and can be straight , interlocking , shut or figured .
Properties
wry yew woods has a density of 33 lbs . per cubic groundwork , similar to that of most pines . Although considered a softwood because it is a conifer , yew ’s wood is tough and resilient . When tested using the industriousness received Janka severity test , Pacific yew receive a hardness rating of 1600 , a ranking like to that of oak or hickory . The wood has above - median resistance to innate disintegration , and is debate desirable for exterior utilisation without additional treatment .
Step 2
Working
Although the Natalie Wood of the Pacific yew has irregular grain , it remains suitable for carving and turn . The Ellen Price Wood is especially well - beseem for bending , so historically has been used in program such as chair backs that require this property . Drilling , screwing and nailing are all modal or better .
Uses
Because large firearm of yew lumber are rarified , most of this wood in the United States finds its means into small carved or become physical object , where its striking color and irregular grain are well - displayed in plate , bowling ball and small decorative wooden items . Yew is also found in furniture , bow , paddles for kayak or canoe , some fine cabinetwork , and musical official document .
Special Uses
Because of its strength and tractability , yew wood , particularly from a related to mintage , the European yew , was historically used to make foresightful bows . Special processing of the bark of the Pacific yew yields the anti - cancer drug Taxol , which consume its name from the genus name of the yew . Taxol and other drug ( generic name paclitaxel ) derived from the bark of the yew are used to treat several unlike cancers .
References
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