Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Rare

About

This golden conifer grows in temperate gardens and shaded woodland edges. Its needles store toxic alkaloids that cause cardiac arrest in any herbivore that bites them.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Pinopsida

Order

Pinales

Family

Taxaceae

Genus

Taxus