Plants Similar to the Japanese Yew

Other Yews

• Several other species of yews look extremely similar to the Japanese yew. While Americans tend to clip yews into formal shapes and maintain them like shrubs, many yews will develop into upright trees over 100 years or more, and grow from 40 to 80 feet tall. This is particularly true of the English yew (Taxus baccata). Canadian yew (T. canadensis), by contrast, is a low-growing, open, sprawling shrub that doesn't get taller than chest-high. Chinese yew (T. chinensis) grows up to 15 feet tall. In the U.S., particularly the Midwest, the hybrid yew (T. x media) is most widely grown, the result of crossing English and Japanese yew. There are numerous cultivars of all these yew species.

Plum Yews

• In mild winter climates, plum yews are grown instead of common yews. Tolerating heavy shade--and featuring thin twigs lined with short, dark green needles--plum yews aren't eaten by deer and tolerate summer heat. The Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia) is well-suited as a building foundation plant or woodland groundcover, maturing from 5 to 10 feet high. Fortune's plum yew (C. fortunei) grows with a looser, more fernlike appearance on its airy twigs, maturing 15 to 20 feet tall.

Podocarps

• Evergreen, dark green leaves and a reddish brown bark with flaky strips make podocarp shrubs look like Japanese yews. Although podocarp leaves are thinner and longer, the textural effect in a garden is very much akin to any yew. The shrubby Chinese podocarpus (Podocarpus macrophyllus) in particular looks like a yew, but its thin, non-needle leaves reveal that it's not a member of the Taxus genus. Tasmanian podocarp (P. alpinus) remains a dwarf shrub only 2 to 4 feet tall with shorter leaves that look spot-on to a yew. Willowleaf podocarp grows up to 20 feet tall with very long, dark green leaves that droop slightly for a graceful textural effect. Broadleaf podocarpus (Podocarpus nagi, also known as Nageia nagi) grows up to 40 feet tall, but produces larger, tapering oval leaves. From a distance, broadleaf podocarpus looks like a yew because of its glossy dark green foliage.

Alexandrian Laurel

• The broader, tapering leaves of Alexandrian laurel (Danae racemosa) quickly distinguish it from a yew. However, from a distance, this evergreen shrub has a texture and growth habit that mimics a young Japanese yew. It matures only 2 to 4 feet tall. Alexandrian laurel prospers in shady conditions, and the red berries may cause an untrained plant lover to wonder if this is some strange form of yew.