The main distinguishing feature of Taxaceae is that it lacks the typical seed-bearing cone structure. The underside of leaves are uniformally yellow-green without conspicuous white stomatal lines. They do not have resin canals in the wood nor leaves.
The leaves of Taxaceae are linear. They are more or less spirally arranged on erect shoots but appear mostly on horizontal shoots.
The cone bears a single ovule (sometimes two ovules) terminally on a modified shoot; there is no evidence of bract-scale complex. The integument of the ovules appears to have been originally of multiple origin i.e. to have formed from a ring of sterile, lateral units, all uninerved at the base-coalescing as the underlying tissues grew.
The Male/Pollen cones are small and solitary. They consist of sporophylls with three to nine pollen sacs. The pollen is non-saccate. Male and female cones are normally borne on different plants.
Coulter, M. John. Morphology of Gymnosperms. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, 1910.
Hartzell, H. The Yew Trees: Biography of a Species. Hulogosi Publishers: Eugene, Oregon, 1991.
Sporne, K.R. The Morphology of Gymnosperms-The Structure and Evolution of Primitive Seed Plants. Hutchinson University Library: London, 1965.
