Canada yew, American yew, ground-hemlock, li du Canada, sapin trainard

Taxus baccata Linnaeus subsp. canadensis (Marshall) Pilger; T. baccata var. minor Michaux; T. minor (Michaux) Britton; T. procumbens Loddiges

Shrubs to 2 m, usually monoecious, low, diffusely branched, straggling, spreading to prostrate. Bark reddish, very thin. Branches spreading and ascending. Leaves 1--2.5 cm ´ 1--2.4 mm, pale green abaxially, mostly without cuticular papillae along stomatal bands, dark green to yellow-green adaxially, epidermal cells as viewed in cross section of leaf wider than tall or ± isodiametric. Seed somewhat flattened, 4--5 mm. 2 n = 24.

Seeds maturing late summer--early fall. Understory shrub in rich forests (deciduous, mixed, or coniferous), bogs, swamps, gorges, ravine slopes, and rocky banks; 0--1500 m; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Man., N.B., Nfld., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Conn., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.