About Taxus globosa Schltdl.
Taxus globosa, commonly called the Mexican yew, is an evergreen shrub and one of the eight recognized yew species. It is a rare endangered species, only known to occur at a small number of locations across eastern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. This shrub grows to an average height of 4.6 meters. It bears large, sharp light green needles that grow in ranks on either side of its branches. Multiple global projects are focused on producing Paclitaxel, an anti-tumor agent. However, Taxus globosa has not been as well studied as other yews, because in vitro plant cell cultures of this species produce low yields of Taxol (Bringi et al., 1995). Few researchers focus their work on this species. The lead research team working on Taxus globosa is likely the group led by Barradas at the Instituto Tecnológico de Veracruz (Veracruz Institute of Technology).
