The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

   ISSN 2307-8235 (online)

   IUCN 2008: T39589A2929537

Cephalotaxus harringtonii, Harrington's Plum Yew

Assessment by: Yang, Y., Luscombe, D & Katsuki, T.

View on www.iucnredlist.org

Citation: Yang, Y., Luscombe, D & Katsuki, T. 2013. Cephalotaxus harringtonii. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species 2013: e.T39589A2929537. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-
1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en

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Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

Plantae Tracheophyta Pinopsida Pinales Cephalotaxaceae

Taxon Name:  Cephalotaxus harringtonii (Knight ex J.Forbes) K.Koch

Synonym(s):
• Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Knight ex J.Forbes) K.Koch
• Cephalotaxus harringtonia variety drupacea (Siebold & Zucc.) Koidz.
• Cephalotaxus koreana Nakai
• Taxus harringtonii

Infra-specific Taxa Assessed:

• Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. harringtonii
• Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. nana
• Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. wilsoniana

Common Name(s):
• English: Harrington's Plum Yew, Japanese Plum Yew
Taxonomic Source(s):
Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Taxonomic Notes:
This originally appeared on the IUCN Red List as C. harringtonia (misspelled = harringtonii) var. em
style="font-style: italic; ">drupacea. This taxon is no longer recognized as being a distinct taxon.
Cephalotaxus harringtonii has long been known as Cephalotaxus drupacea Siebold & Zucc. and it was
introduced to cultivation in the Netherlands by Von Siebold under that name. However, this name was
only validly published in 1846, by which time the same species (introduced by Von Siebold as stated)
had been named and published as Taxus harringtonii ["harringtonia"] by James Forbes in 1839, based in
part on a manuscript received from the nurseryman Joseph Knight. It was later transferred to
Cephalotaxus by Karl Koch.

Cephalotaxus koreana Nakai was described as a 1-1.5 m tall, caespitose but non-layering shrub with "red
[and] most delicious palatable fruits." Those of C. drupacea (= C. harringtonii) were said to be bitter with
a disagreeable smell. Otherwise the two taxa are similar and the assertion about edibility apparently
being based on the experience and by its nature subjective opinion of one observer is here not
considered to be a valid taxonomic character. Cephalotaxus koreana was said by its author to occur in
Korea as well as in Japan, where C. harringtonii can be a shrub as well as a small tree. Probably the sugar
content of the aril varies among individuals or (sub)populations of this species.

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published: 2013

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 1
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
Date Assessed: December 16, 2010

Justification:
The species as a whole is Least Concern as its status is driven by the nominate variety and by var. nana,
both of which are also Least Concern as they are widespread and have no major threats.

Geographic Range
Range Description:
Recorded from both Koreas; Japan and Taiwan, Province of China.

Country Occurrence:
Native: Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku); Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea,
Republic of; Taiwan, Province of China

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 2
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
Population
Population trends are difficult to determine but there does not appear to be an overall decline.
Current Population Trend:  Unknown

Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)

Cephalotaxus harringtonii in its tree form is a component of both broad-leaved (angiosperm) forest and
coniferous forest, or mixed forest, occurring in the understorey. Cephalotaxus harringtonii var. nana is a
spreading shrub on seaside cliffs as well as in mountains over rocky terrain; var. harringtonii can also
occur as an upright shrub in dense thickets. Only var. wilsoniana in Taiwan is invariably a small tree in
mixed montane forests. It appears that tree forms of this species are increasingly common in more
southern regions where the winters are milder. The altitudinal range of var. harringtonii is not well
documented; one herbarium collection was made at 600 m a.s.l. Variety nana occurs from 10 m near
the coast to 1,900 m a.s.l. in the mountains. In Taiwan, var. wilsoniana is recorded from 1,800 m to 2,700
m a.s.l., so this is a high montane forest tree. In Japan, var. harringtonii is common in the undergrowth
of forests dominated by Abies sachalinensis and in open moorland in colder, northern regions. In
southern Japan var. harringtonii occurs in mixed forests with Acer, Quercus, Tsuga, Chamaecyparis,
Abies, and sometimes, also as a smaller subcanopy tree, Podocarpus macrophyllus.

Systems:  Terrestrial

Use and Trade (see Appendix for additional information)

In general this species is probably too small to be a useful timber. However it is grown as an ornamental
in many northern hemisphere countries.

Threats
No range wide threats have been identified for this species.

Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)

The species is known from several protected areas as well as from secondary forests.

Credits
Assessor(s): Yang, Y., Luscombe, D & Katsuki, T.

Reviewer(s): Thomas, P. & Farjon, A.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 3
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
Bibliography
Farjon, A. 2010. Conifer Database (June 2008) In Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2010 Annual
Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin
T., Baillargeon G., eds). Reading, UK. Available at: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/.

Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

IUCN. 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2013.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org.
(Accessed: 12 June 2013).

Citation
Yang, Y., Luscombe, D & Katsuki, T. 2013. Cephalotaxus harringtonii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2013: e.T39589A2929537. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en

Disclaimer
To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.

External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 4
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
 Appendix

Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

1. Forest -> 1.4. Forest - Temperate - Suitable Yes

3. Shrubland -> 3.4. Shrubland - Temperate - Suitable No

Use and Trade

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

End Use Local National International

Pets/display animals, horticulture No No Yes

Establishing ex-situ production * No No No

Conservation Actions in Place

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Conservation Actions in Place

In-Place Research, Monitoring and Planning

Action Recovery plan: No

Systematic monitoring scheme: No

In-Place Land/Water Protection and Management

Occur in at least one PA: Yes

Area based regional management plan: No

In-Place Species Management

Harvest management plan: No

Successfully reintroduced or introduced beningly: No

Subject to ex-situ conservation: No

In-Place Education

Subject to recent education and awareness programmes: No

Included in international legislation: No

Subject to any international management/trade controls: No

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 5
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
Additional Data Fields
Distribution
Estimated area of occupancy (AOO) (km²): 3500

Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) (km²): 750000

Lower elevation limit (m): 10

Upper elevation limit (m): 2700

Population
Population severely fragmented: No

Habitats and Ecology

Generation Length (years): 10-15

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cephalotaxus harringtonii – published in 2013. 6
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T39589A2929537.en
The IUCN Red List Partnership

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN
Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation
International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas
A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™